Trouble
by Raveld'Ivin
Summary: She thought he was a good man. And now, every time she looked at their wedding picture, she wished she could take that day back. She was his.  She wasn't safe anymore. Q/OC, P/Q, R/Q friendship. Strong language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

A/N : New story! Angst/drama, Quick of course. This chapter has a little scene rated M, the one in italics. Enjoy!

Things you need to know : Puck and Quinn kept Beth. Set 6 years after season 1.

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Quinn groaned slightly as the sun made its way through the half closed curtains. She brought her hand in front of her eyes to shield them from the intense light. When she adjusted to the brightness after blinking a few times, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. They traveled to the alarm clock where the digital numbers indicated that it was only 8.00 am. She knew Beth would be up very soon and she should get up to cook breakfast.

His arm was around her waist, tightly pulling her against his body, as if to show she was his and only his. She tried to free herself from his grasp, but by doing that she woke her husband up. His hands started running up and down her sides and she closed her eyes in apprehension of what was next to come.

"Morning wifey," he purred into her ear and she felt sick just to the sound of his voice. He started to lay a few kisses on her bare shoulder as his right hand fell onto her thigh. She brushed his hand away and sat up, pulling the sheet with her to cover her body.

"Puck is going to come by to drop Beth off soon. I need to get dressed and make breakfast."

She heard him sigh and curse under her breath as he rolled onto his side and quickly fell back into a deep sleep. A sigh of relief passed through her slightly opened lips as she stood and tied her robe around herself. She walked to the bathroom and locked the door behind her, resting her back against the cool surface for a minute. Tears filled her eyes and she shook her head. She couldn't fall apart. Not now.

She stood in front of the mirror and slowly let her robe pool to her feet. She put on her underwear and looked at herself in the mirror. Her fingers traced the purple bruise that was starting to show below her eye and at the base of her neck as memories filled her mind.

_"Why isn't dinner ready?" Tyler asked her as he walked into the kitchen to find Quinn still standing over the stove. "I work all day to bring money home while you stay in the house and you are not capable of making dinner!" he slammed the newspaper on the table, a loud thud echoing throughout the room, Quinn jumping in fear._

_"Beth was here today. I spent the afternoon with her and then I lost track of time." she explained, praying he would accept this as an excuse. She stirred the sauce in the casserole, feeling his presence behind her. She didn't have to turn around, she could feel his breath on her neck._

_"You were with him, weren't you?" he asked, his hand grasping her hip. Quinn shuddered, a chill traveling down her spine. She didn't say anything in response because he was just jealous. "Answer me!"_

_"No!" she shouted, tears making their way into her once sparkling hazel eyes. "I was with Beth. I only saw Puck when I picked her up from his house."_

_He turned her around and pressed himself against her as he pinned her on the counter. His hands were wrapped around her upper arms and she was sure bruises had formed already. "Let go!" she shouted as her fists made contact with his chest. He tilted his head to the side with a small smirk and she knew she shouldn't have done that. His hand suddenly rose and hit her across the cheek with so much strength that Quinn almost fell down. She would have if he hadn't wrapped his large hand around her neck._

_"You are nothing Quinn. Without me, you are nothing. You hear that? You have nothing. No friends, no family, even your own parents despise you; And that Rachel? She only sticks to be there for her goddaughter once you fall into depression." he then squeezed harder and Quinn started to see little black stains around her as she tried to breath. He suddenly let go and pushed her onto the floor, before he only looked at her with a glare and walked out of the room._

It was the first he had ever hit her.

Ever since they got married, he had been very possessive. He often yelled at her and was a little rough but he had never laid a hand on her. They had met when she was 20 and he was 24. Her and Puck had just broken up and she was broken hearted when they met. He helped her through her heartache and things went very fast ever since that day. They had been married for 2 months now.

Puck and Quinn made it work. They stayed friends and shared Beth's custody. During the week she was with Puck and Quinn had her during week ends and holidays.

Quinn shook her head and wiped her tear stained cheeks. She quickly got her make-up supplies from under the sink and pulled out everything she needed to hide the marks. Once she was done, she realized that the large bruise on her neck was still showing and, after she got dressed, she wrapped a light scarf around her neck.

She placed her make-up supplies back in the cupboard under the sink and soothed her clothes one last time before she got out of the bathroom, wishing he was still asleep. When she stepped back into the room, Tyler was getting dressed and she walked past him with a smile. He grabbed her upper arm and brought her body to his before kissing her lips.

Then he smiled, "Good morning," he said. He eyed the scarf around her neck. "Good idea to hide it. That way none of your stupid friends will have to worry."

She bit back a curse because she knew it would only make things worse and simply nodded her head before she stepped out of the room, climbed down the stairs and started making breakfast. She made Tyler's favorite. Bacon and eggs. She put them to fry when the door bell rang. Wiping her hands on a dish towel, she walked to the front door. She opened it and smiled at Puck and Beth.

"Hi baby," she said as she scooped the 6-year-old into her arms.

"Hi Mama." the little girl with blonde curls replied, throwing her arms around her mother's neck.

"Hey Puck. So I'll drive her back tomorrow night, right?" she asked, looking up to her former boyfriend.

"Yeah," he said. He then narrowed his eyes and Quinn panicked for a split second, thinking her bruise under her eye was showing. "Why are you wearing a scarf? It's like ninety degrees outside."

As if on cue, Tyler appeared at the door and grinned as he extended his hand to Puck. "Hey Man," the brown haired man said to Puck, who shook his hand. "Is you throat still sore baby?" he asked Quinn who furrowed her brows. "You should probably leave the scarf on if you go to the park, it's a bit chilly."

Quinn nodded her head. "Yeah, I should probably do that." she said. She waved at Puck and he gave Beth one last kiss before the door closed. Inside, Quinn put Beth in front of cartoons while she finished making breakfast. When she entered the kitchen, Tyler was already there, gazing over the burnt bacon and eggs. Quinn's jaw fell open and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I completely forgot," she said, walking to the stove. Tyler grabbed her wrist and forced it down on the burning hot stove. A shrill cry escaped Quinn's mouth before she bit down on her bottom lip to silence herself so she wouldn't alert Beth. He then let go of her wrist and got out of the room. Hot tears escaped from Quinn's eyes as she placed her red wrist under cold water.

Yet another mark to hide.

-0-

"Mommy, look!" Beth shouted as she climbed on top of the slide. Once she was sure she had Quinn's full attention, she slid down and landed butt first in the sand. Quinn thought she was going to cry but instead the little girl erupted into a fit of giggles and Quinn joined her. She scooped her up and kissed the tip of her nose then gave her an Eskimo kiss. Puck used to say that it was their 'thing'

"I love you, you know that?" Quinn whispered into Beth's ear as if it was a big secret. Beth nodded her head and rested her head onto Quinn's shoulder

"I know. You tell me almost every day," Beth said sheepishly. "I love you too Mama." Her eyes then traveled to the monkey bars, seeing who was standing there and she gasped as she almost jumped from Quinn's arms. "Aunt Rachel!"

Quinn put her down and Beth ran to the brunette, her blonde curls bouncing up and down her shoulders. Quinn laughed and walked to her best friend. Once Rachel had put Beth down, she hugged Quinn. She tried not to wince when Rachel's arms tightened around her neck, her elbow pressing onto her bruise.

"I missed you," The brunette said. Quinn grinned and mirrored Rachel's words. "The tour was crazy. Seriously, I have a lot of things to talk to you about."

They both watched as Beth played with the monkey bars as Rachel told Quinn all about her tour, Finn and how they had gotten a puppy. She asked Quinn if she was okay after a silence and Quinn just nodded her head as usual.

She was fine.

-0-

Quinn tucked Beth in her queen sized bed after she had read her daughter a story. As she pulled a stray of hair from Beth's face with her hand, Beth's gaze stared at Quinn's wrist bandage.

"What's that?" she asked, her fingers tracing the outlines of her bandage. Quinn nibbled on her lower lip, trying to come up with an answer.

"I burnt myself with steaming water earlier. I'm fine, it's nothing serious," Beth looked at her mother and then to her injury, perplexed. She then kissed Quinn's skin near her bandage and said,

"All better now,"

Quinn let out a watery chuckle. "Thank you Beth."

With a last kiss to the girl's forehead, she switched on her night light and turned off the ceiling light. She left the door slightly open just as Beth liked it. Tyler was still not home and she was starting to get worried. What if he came home after she had fallen asleep and hurt Beth?

After biting every of her nails, Quinn put on her pajamas and came back into Beth's room before slipping beneath the covers. The girl stirred softly and immediately nestled in Quinn's embrace, just like they used to do when she was little and had just had a nightmare so she would come into hers and Puck's bed, squeezing in between her parents.

Dropping a kiss on Beth's honey colored hair, Quinn brushed her finger across the girl's cheek and then closed her eyes herself.

She hoped tomorrow would be a better day.

-0-

Quinn and Beth were in the car, driving back to Puck's house, singing at the top of their lungs the song _We Will Rock You_ by Queen. The clapped their hands together in rhythm, Beth erupting into a fit of laughter every time Quinn panicked when the wheel got a little out of control.

Quinn stopped the car and pulled up in Puck's driveway. Beth gathered her belongings and took her mother's hand as they walked the path toward the house. Beth ran into the house and Quinn followed, a bit hesitant.

"Puck?" she called, trying to spot her ex-boyfriend.

"Hey," Puck said as he emerged from the hall. He must have been working on a new song she assumed. Finn was behind him and Quinn raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Quinn," Finn acknowledged with a goofy grin as he scooped her up into his arms in a bear hug. Quinn laughed and yelled at him to put her down. She and Finn had become best buds over the years, they had built a brother/sister relationship. He was the one who gave her away at her wedding and he'd do anything to protect her. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. Seen your wife yesterday, just as excited as she was when she left." she said with a smile.

Finn and Rachel had gotten married when they were 19, in New York. It was the occasion to do a big Glee Club reunion and everyone had been able to come. Kurt and Blaine lived in New York now, as well as Mercedes. They occasionally saw each other, since there was less than 1000 km from Lima to New York. The rest of the Glee Club still lived in Ohio.

"Did everything go okay with Beth this weekend?" Puck's voice rang through her ears, pulling Quinn out of her daze.

"Yeah, we had a blast. Are you bringing her on Wednesday or do you want me to come and pick her up?" she asked.

"Uh, I don't mind dropping her off."

"Alright," Quinn said. Puck noticed that she seemed to be off but he didn't question, she was probably just tired. "Well I guess I'm gonna go."

"Beth!" Puck shouted up the stairs. "Come say goodbye to your mom!"

Beth ran down the stairs and launched herself into Quinn's arms before peppering her face with kisses. "Bye Mama. Love you."

"Love you too." Quinn whispered as she gave Beth an Eskimo kiss.

Half an hour later, when she finally got home, the night had already come. She stepped through the door and dropped her bag onto the floor as she stretched her arms above her head and let out a yawn.

"Where have you been?" Tyler's voice startled her, and she put her hand over her chest in fright.

"Geez, Tyler. You scared the Hell out of me." she said.

"You didn't answer my question," he said as he walked to her. Quinn swallowed.

"I was driving Beth back to Puck's house. You know that."

"Does it take you a hour and a half to make it?"

"I chatted a little with Puck and Finn that's all," she said, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"Puck? Again?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. We're still friends."

His hand swept across her cheek and she held it in her own hand afterwards, the stinging not going away. He approached her and whispered in her ear,

"You are mine Quinn. Nobody else gets to touch you. Understood?"

Quinn nodded her head and he walked past her and up the stairs.

She then sank to the floor, bringing her knees to her chest and setting her chin on top of them. She was startled when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out, checked the screen, indicating it was Puck calling. She didn't know why he was calling her or if it was Beth but she couldn't answer in fear that her husband came down the stairs. She pressed the button 'reject' before typing a text quickly.

_Can't answer right now. Call tomorrow. _

She then deleted her sent message and wished she could just fall asleep and forget everything that happened with her husband.

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Should I continue or not? :)


	2. Chapter 2

Quinn soothed the gray dress she was wearing and looked at herself into the mirror. She and Tyler were invited for dinner at Finn and Rachel's house. She had spent half an hour putting on her make up, trying to cover every bruise. The one on her neck was now yellow-ish but the one beneath her eyes was still a shade of blue and was hard to hoped no on would notice the weird beige color under her eye.

She stepped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, where Tyler was getting ready. He looked up and smiled as she padded across the room to get her purse. His arms slipped around her waist and for a minute she braced herself for the pain to come. Instead, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and placed a stray of her hair behind her ear.

"You look beautiful," he said. He let go of her and the corners of her lips rose into a shy smile. She sucked in a breath as he eyed her dress up and down. "Nice dress. But it would look better off. We'll take care of that later."

Quinn nodded her head as she always did, and when his hands fell from her hips, she took that as a permission to go. She took her purse, slipped into her heels before asking if he was ready. Her hands were trembling and her eyes rimmed with tears and she wanted to stay at Finn and Rachel's as long as possible and make sure he wouldn't drink too much alcohol, otherwise he would get a bit handsy.

The drive to Finn and Rachel's was silent, the radio off, his hand on her thigh. He pulled up into the house's driveway and got out of the car, Tyler reaching for her hand as they walked up the path leading to the rather big house. After all, Rachel was a successful singer and Finn a big football player, they could afford a house like theirs.

They rang the bell and, less than 30 seconds later, Rachel was opening it with a bright smile. Tyler almost rolled his eyes because he didn't like Rachel very much, he mostly bounded with Finn.

"Hey guys," she greeted, stepping aside to let them come in. "Let me take your coats." Quinn helped Rachel with the coats and went with her to the closet to hang them."Noah and Beth are coming too. I figured since you and Noah are still friends we could have a dinner together. Plus you will be able to see Beth."

Quinn's heart started to race, knowing that her husband wouldn't be too happy about Puck being there. "Okay. Th-that's a great idea." Quinn said, looking at the ground. Rachel immediately knew that something was off with her and her hand laid upon Quinn's cheek.

"Are you alright honey?" she asked, concern filling her eyes.

"I am fine. Tyler and I just got into a fight, that's all."

Rachel's concern only grew. "He wouldn't lay a hand on you, would he?" she whispered. Quinn sallowed and produced the best smile she had.

"No! Don't be silly. He wouldn't."

Rachel hesitated for a second before she nodded her head. "All right. You know you come to me if something big happens though, right?"

"Yes. Thank you."

They walked back into the main room where Finn had already given Tyler a beer. She closed her eyes and hoped that he wouldn't drink too much. She couldn't tell Finn not to give him alcohol, but he would get suspicious if she did.

When the door bell rang, Quinn let out a couple of deep breathes. When Puck and Beth walked in, Tyler stared at her, his eyebrows knitted together and his eyes darkened. Beth ran to her mother and hugged her, telling her she had had missed her. When Puck approached her to kiss her cheek she turned away and pretended something about being sick. Which was weird, because she had just hugged Beth. He didn't push it and shook Tyler's hand instead. He nodded his head toward his wife, showing her that it was the good thing to do.

They then sat down at the table to eat, Beth tucked between her parents on a chair with 3 cushions, proud to be able to sit in the same type of chair as the adults. After Quinn had cut her meat, Beth hungrily shove two pieces in her mouth. Puck looked at her with a smirk and then his eyes traveled up to Quinn who avoided his gaze, turning back to her own plate. She noticed that her husband was currently nursing yet another beer and prayed silently that they could stay at Finn and Rachel's as long as possible.

"Mama?" Beth asked when the table was silent. Everybody turned their attention to Beth who continued once she was sure her mother was listening. "Is your wrist better yet?"

Quinn looked down at her wrist where a blister had appeared. She could feel everyone's gaze on her, especially Puck's. "It's all better now. I bet it's your magic kiss."

"What happened?" Puck was the one to ask, raising an eyebrow. Quinn remembered what she had told Beth and said,

"I was boiling some water and some splattered on my wrist. Nothing serious."

"Oh." was Puck's soft response before he got back to eating his meal. Quinn sighed in relief, and felt Tyler's hand lie on her thigh, a little to high for her liking. She swatted it away and he glared at her, clenching his teeth. When it put it back there again, she didn't object, she just hoped that eating her meat would get the taste of vomit away from her mouth.

At the end of dinner, Quinn insisted on giving Rachel some help to do the dishes. The football game had already started and the guys were in front of the TV, the girls in the dining room. Beth was sitting on Quinn's lap as Quinn stroked her hair and talked to Rachel at the same time.

"No it's fine Quinn. I'll do them tomorrow. I'm pretty beat after the day I've got today."Rachel said, waving her hand.

"Mommy, can I go to your house tonight?" Beth's shy voice asked, looking up to her mom. Quinn opened her mouth but said nothing at first.

"I don't think so sweetie. Mommy needs to get up early for an interview tomorrow morning." she said. It was a lie, but it was better for Beth.

"Oh," answered Beth, a bit disappointed. The little girl placed her head into her mother's neck just as she used to do when she was little to sleep. Quinn ran her hand up and down her back and kissed her daughter's forehead. Rachel watched in adoration and smiled just as Tyler walked back into the room with an empty glass. He poured himself another glass of wine from the counter and looked at Quinn as he took a sip.

"You are driving tonight honey, right?"

Quinn almost rolled her eyes. "I guess, if we don't want to end up in a ditch."

Tyler stopped in his tracks. "What did you say?" Rachel watched on in confusion, wondering why Tyler was so worked up about what Quinn had just said. Quinn swallowed and wrapped her arm around Beth's body (who had fallen asleep) as if to protect her.

"Of course I'll drive. You have had too much drinks to drive anyway."

"Right." Tyler replied dryly before walking out of the room.

"He's weird," Rachel commented. "Are you sure he won't do anything? Especially if you're mad at each other and he drank a lot."

"We are not mad at each other."

"Didn't you say earlier that the two of you got into a fight?" Rachel asked, getting even more confused.

"Oh, right. Yeah but we're good."

"Okay." Rachel said, shrugging her shoulders, knowing that she had just too much imagination. They had just gotten married after all, she remembered what the first months were like with Finn. They were more than happy, so Tyler and Quinn probably were too.

-0-

By the end of the football game, everyone gathered their coat and said goodbye. Quinn hugged and kissed Beth, telling her she loved her and this time, she couldn't avoid the kiss on the cheek Puck gave her. Tyler watched as Puck's hand brushed against her hip just for a split second as he leaned in to kiss the apple of her cheek. His blood was boiling and his fists were clenched. He fake smiled when Rachel said goodbye to him and when Finn shook his hand. He only gave Puck a nod, because the two of them didn't get quite well.

The drive home was silent, but Quinn knew that he was going to give her a piece of his mind about Puck kissing her goodbye. When they arrived at their house, Quinn tried to open the door as Tyler began to place hungry kisses on her neck. She shrugged him away as she unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Pulling off her coat, she then went up the stairs to retrieve her dress and put on her robe. Tyler stepped into the bedroom a minute later and hooked his arms around her waist, pulling her body to his.

His lips crashed onto hers as hungrily as before and she could taste the alcohol on his tongue. Moaning as she pulled away, she placed her hands onto his chest to stop him from coming to close to her. He gave her a curious look and she smiled. She then whispered into his ear,

"I'll be right back, I have a surprise for you," he rose his eyebrow and she walked away and into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her, breathing heavily. She sat on the edge of the bath tub, trying to control the sobs that were threatening to escape her mouth and the tears filling her eyes. Tyler knocked on the door a minutes later, telling her he was getting impatient. She stayed there, on the edge of the tub, for half an hour, maybe an hour before she retrieved from the small room. In the bedroom, Tyler had fallen asleep on the bed, causing Quinn to breath in relief.

-0-

The next morning, Quinn was making breakfast for she and Tyler when he climbed down the stairs. She smiled at him before returning her attention to the bacon and eggs on the stove in front of her. Tyler cleared his throat and came up behind her. He turned her around and tucked a stray of hair behind her cheek.

"You and Puck were pretty close last night," he said, locking eyes with her.

"No. He was just concerned about my burn and he kissed my cheek to say goodbye, just like he did with Rachel." Quinn defended.

"I saw him with his hand on your hip. You should have pushed him away. You shouldn't have let him touch you like that."

"He was just friendly! He's the father of my daughter, I can't cut him out of my life like that, Beth would be devastated," she cried. "And if I want to kiss him on the cheek you can't do anything about it."

The back of his right hand collided with her left cheek a second after the words had left her mouth. His hand then wrapped around her neck as he leaned close to her. "You are _mine_ Quinn. You've been mine ever since the day you signed the papers," he growled out. "Don't you dare tell any of your friends about it, or I'll make your life a living hell. Theirs as well. Do you really want them to get hurt? _Rachel_ seems to be very weak."

He let go of her neck as she bit back a sob and he smiled in satisfaction. Dropping a kiss on her forehead as if nothing had happened, he then sat down at the table and took a sip of his coffee.

Quinn stood as though she was frozen on her spot, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.

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Thoughts? If I get 10 reviews for this chapter, next one will be up by tomorrow! Reviews make me way more motivated. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you very much for all your great reviews. As promised, here's the third chapter.

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_2 weeks later_

Quinn was making dinner one night. Her apron tied around her slim waist, a dishtowel draped over her shoulder as she stirred the sauce she was preparing to get with the roast. Tyler was going to arrive soon and everything needed to be ready when he walked through the door. She was surprised when the door bell rang. After wiping her hands on the towel, she tossed it over the back of a chair and walked to the front door.

She opened it, revealing Puck and Beth on the other side. Puck was holding a bouquet of flowers and Beth had a wrapped-paper box in her hands. "Happy Birthday!" they said in unison, with big smiles on their faces. Quinn laughed and beamed with joy as she stepped aside to let them come in.

Beth put the present on the nearest table and extended her arms toward her mother who scooped her up and gave her an Eskimo kiss. She then hugged Puck and for the first time in weeks, she felt safe. His arms and gentle touches made her feel protected and loved. He place a kiss on the apple of her cheek, his hands squeezing hers.

"Happy birthday," he whispered against the shell of her ear, and she felt a chill run down her spine. She grinned, her hazel eyes sparkling with joy. Her own husband didn't even think about her birthday, and it felt good to be loved, even if that person was her ex-boyfriend.

"Thanks." she replied as Puck handed her the bouquet of daisies. She knew that he knew it was her favorite flowers, something Tyler had forgotten. She put them on the table before giving her full attention to her daughter. "How was your day honey?" They walked to the living room and Quinn poured Puck a glass of wine and a glass of orange juice for Beth.

"Good!" Beth said with a wide toothless grin. Her two front teeth had fallen and were starting to grow back, giving her the cutest grin (as Puck said. After all, he had her wrapped around his finger andshe was the prettiest girl in the world). Beth then reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a sheet of paper folded in four. "Happy Birthday momma."

Quinn took the sheet of paper from her daughter's hand and unfolded it. It was a drawing made by Beth, with four figures. Her, Puck and Quinn and a child in Quinn's arms. "Who is this?" she asked, pointing to the small figure. Beth looked at it and grinned.

"That's my brother!" she proudly said. "When you and daddy get back together. You will cuddle and poof, a baby in momma's belly, just like me."

Puck chocked on the wine he was drinkin and Quinn's eyes widened. She didn't know where Beth had learned all those words but one thing for sure, she was determined to have a baby brother someday. Quinn looked from Puck to Beth. She ran her hand through her daughter's locks and spoke softly, "Baby, your daddy and I aren't going to get back together. I'm married now. Remember Tyler?"

"Yes but I want you and daddy to be in love again." Beth said. Quinn's shoulders slumped and she kissed Beth's forehead. Puck cleared his throat, pulling an envelope from behind his back and handing it to Quinn.

"This is a little present from Rachel. She said she was sorry for not being here." Quinn smiled once again and nodded her head,

"I know, she called me earlier, told me that you had her present and said that I'd love it," she opened the envelope and took out a single paper. It was a ticket for a day to the spa, sauna, massages, pool. A little note from Rachel was attached to it.

_Hey Birthday girl! I got the same ticket for myself, if you don't mind my company, of course. Love you Girl! xoxo, Rachel_

Quinn forced the best smile she could on her face and was already thinking how she could turned Rachel down. It was obvious that if she went to that massage, Rachel would see her bruises. She couldn't and wouldn't, for Rachel's sake. She remembered Tyler's words from a few weeks ago, the ones that had scared the hell out of her. _Rachel seems to be very weak. _

Then Puck took the box Beth was carrying earlier and placed it into her arms. "This is from me. It isn't much but...I thought about you when I saw it in the store."

She ripped off the paper and opened the box. Inside was a book written by Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gabsty. He knew it was her favorite book. But it wasn't just any book, it was the first edition. She gasped as she took the piece of collection into her hands and looked up at Puck with a watery laugh. "Wow. How did you find this?"

"A friend of mine has a book store and he has a pretty impressive book collection. It took a little convincing but he finally sold it to me."

"Puck...This must have cost you a fortune," she said in awe. Puck waved his hand.

"It was worth it."

She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and he was a little taken aback, but he wrapped his around her slim waist. He couldn't help but noticed how skinny she had become. He remembered holding her like that just a few months ago, she had lost weight since then. She pulled away before he could do anything else and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you." she whispered, and she felt his hand squeeze hers once again.

A smell of burn began to fill the house and Quinn's eyes widened and she ran into the kitchen. Puck, clearly confused, put Beth in front of some cartoons and walked into the kitchen where Quinn was standing, her elbows on the counter and her hands in her face.

"What happened?" he asked. Quinn lifted her head and sighed.

"The roast is well...burnt." she said, casting her eyes towards his.

"It's alright. It's not that big a deal, is it?"

"Tyler is going to be so pissed," she said, running a hand over her face. Puck frowned and rounded the corner to stand in front of her.

"Are you okay Quinn?"

"He forgot about my birthday. He woke up this morning, kissed me goodbye and went to work. He forgot about it. And here I am, standing in the kitchen with the burnt roast he absolutely wanted and my ex-boyfriend who hasn't forgotten and who even bought me a present."

"I can help you make something else. Maybe we can stay for dinner, it's your birthday after all."

Quinn's heart started to race, wondering how she could get away from this. "I can't...Tyler really likes when it's just the two of us here when he comes home from work. Don't take it personally, it's just the way it is. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. We should probably go anyway. Beth is getting tired." They walked back into the living room and both laughed when they saw Beth asleep in front of the TV. Puck scooped her up and she stirred, opening her eyes slowly. Quinn pecked her forehead and stroke her golden hair.

"Happy birthday mommy," Beth whispered, her eyes barely staying open. Quinn laughed and gave her an Eskimo kiss before kissing Puck's cheek. When she pulled apart, the front door swung opened and Tyler walked in. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed Puck standing there. Puck spun around and looked at Tyler.

"Hey," he said, adjusting Beth on his arm.

"Hey Puck," Tyler said, though his jaw was clenched and he was looking at Quinn. "What are you doing here?"

"We came by to wish Quinn an Happy Birthday."

"Right," Tyler said. He then opened the door for them and said, "Well I'm not holding you anymore longer."

Puck narrowed his eyes and Tyler, noticing it, glanced to the sleeping Beth in her father's arms. Puck sighed and, casting one last look at Quinn, stepped out of the house. The door closed after him and Tyler crossed his arms over his chest as he walked to her. She backed away slightly, but he only placed a chaste kiss onto her lips.

"Hi," he greeted, running his hands up and down her arms. She flinched slightly when they rubbed against the bruises still healing on her upper arms from their previous fight. "Have a good day?"

"Yes. You?" she asked, trying to keep the best smile she could produce. His hands were putting pressure on her arms and it hurt. She knew better than to push him away.

"Great. I can't wait to eat that roast you planned, I'm famished." Quinn swallowed and freed herself from his grasp.

"It's burnt."

"What?"

"The roast, it's burnt. I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention, and it was too late." she rambled, closing her eyes. Tyler shook his head and to her surprise, he just kissed her forehead.

"It's no big deal. I'll order take-out."

He walked past her to order the food and Quinn stood there, not really understanding what had just happened.

-0-

After they had finished eating their pizza, Quinn washed the plates while Tyler was in the living room. When she was finished, she wiped her hands on a towel and walked to the living room, expecting to see her husband in front of a football game or whatever was on TV. Instead, she found him looking at something on the coffee table. It was Beth's drawing. Her eyes widened and she quickly walked over to grab it from him but he was too fast and he shot up to his feet, holding the sheet of paper in his hand.

"What's that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Quinn jumped when he slammed his hand on the table, a loud thud echoing through the room. "WHAT IS THAT?"

"It-it's one of my birthday present. Beth drew it."

Tyler took a step toward her as she took a step back. "And I'm guessing that the man with a mohawk is Puckerman? Does your little brat expect the two of you to go back together?"

"Stop! Beth is not a brat and it's just a drawing, it doesn't mean anything!" Quinn cried out, trying to get away from him. Then her back hit the wall and he pinned her against the hard surface.

" 'Cause I won't let that happen Quinn, you hear me? You are mine. You deserve nobody but me. You are no one. You are poor, skinny and your beauty fades away every day. You don't deserve any body. Your friends are just there so they can get Beth's custody when you die." His hand wrapped around her neck and squeezed harder than he ever did. Quinn whimpered as he pressed against her throat and when his knee collided with her stomach, she doubled over with pain and her own knees hit the floor. "Look at you," he snickered as he grabbed her by the hair. "You are pitiful."

He let got of her and she scrambled to the floor, hot tears cascading down her cheeks as she tried to regain her breath. His heavy steps quietened and the front door slammed. She coughed several times, wincing when the pain in her stomach didn't subsist. She stayed on the floor for at least half an hour, wishing for the pain to go away. With shaking legs, she stood, holding to the counter a few feet from her and opened the drawer in the corner of the kitchen. She took some pain killers from a box and took two of them like it was written on the box. She swallowed them and then walked to the bathroom.

Standing in front of the mirror, she lifted her shirt and examined the bruise that was forming just under her ribcage. When she walked back into the living room, her eyes set upon a sheet of paper tore in four. Picking the pieces up, she placed them in a drawer, telling herself that she would fix it tomorrow.

For now, she just wanted sleep to make her forget what just happened.

* * *

10 reviews = New chapter by tomorrow! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Tyler was away in a business trip for a few days, giving Quinn some time for herself. Beth was staying with her for a few days after Puck agreed. They went to the park, to the swimming pool (Quinn watching Beth swim from the side), do shopping with Rachel, who had just come back from her tour.

Each morning Quinn looked at herself in the mirror. She was starting to get used to the new Quinn. The one who was poor, skinny and ugly, just like her husband had told her. Each morning she spent half an hour covering the fading bruises on her body and the new ones that had appeared.

"Jeez," Rachel's voice rang through the house as the brunette strode in the kitchen. "It's like ninety degrees out there. How in the heck can you be wearing a sweater?" she asked Quinn, who was wearing a hoodie as she made iced tea. Quinn began to panic, but quickly recovered as she said,

"I'm not feeling too well and there's a little wind in the garden so I might as well keep it."

They were at Finn and Rachel's house and Beth was playing in the pool with her uncle and father.

"You know what we should totally do?" Rachel asked, clapping her hands together. After Quinn's shake of the head, she elaborated. "We should go to that massage/spa/sauna thing. Your birthday was weeks ago and we still didn't get to go there. So when do you want to go?"

"I don't know..." Quinn said. As exciting as it sounded, she couldn't risk Rachel seeing her bruises, she just couldn't. For Rachel's sake. Because if Tyler knew that Rachel knew, he'd hurt her. "I'm very busy at the moment."

"It's just an afternoon Quinn. You've been a little off these days, it will be great for you."

"I said not now!" Quinn suddenly shouted. Rachel, taken aback by Quinn's sudden burst out, took a step back. A frustrated sigh passed through Quinn's opened lips and she brushed her fingers across her forehead. "I'm sorry. I've just been under a lot of pressure, that's all."

"What's going on Quinn?" Rachel asked, her ton growing serious as she placed her hand onto Quinn's cheek.

"Nothing," Quinn said. "Everything is great."

"Stop it Quinn," Rachel cut her off. "I know there's something going on."

"There's nothing going on, alright?"

"You would tell me, right?" Rachel asked.

"Of course I'd tell you."

Before Rachel could say anything else, Beth came running into the house in her bathing suit, dripping wet.

"Elizabeth Rose Fabray-Puckerman, what are you doing all wet in my house?" Rachel scolded as she placed her hands on her hips. Beth only laughed before jumping into her mother's arms.

"Oh, thank you for that," Quinn said as she felt water through her clothes. She grabbed the closest towel and wrapped it around Beth. "Much better."

"Can you come swim with me?" Beth asked, looking up to her mother with those hazel eyes she had inherited from her parents.

"Nah, mommy is tired. Why don't you go play with daddy and uncle Finn?"

Feeling Quinn's discomfort with her daughter, Rachel stepped up. "I'll go swim with you Beth, if you want,"

"Yay! Well go, put on your bathing suit!" Beth exclaimed, jumping from Quinn's arms and grabbing Rachel's hand. Before being dragged out of the house by the six-year-old, Rachel shot a look to Quinn, the kind of look which made Quinn wonder if Rachel knew anything.

-0-

Quinn was up really early the next day, Beth was still asleep. She made breakfast, but the smell of bacon made her feel a little nauseous. She went to the bathroom and got out all she need to cover her bruises. When she was done, she waited three minutes, pacing in the bedroom, biting her finger nails. When the beeper rang, panic hitched her throat and her hands trembled as she walked back into the bathroom and looked down at the little stick laying near the sink.

_Pregnant_ it said.

She didn't know if she should feel happy or sad. She didn't know if the tears welling up in her eyes were tears of happiness or tears of sadness. Her fingers skipped over to her stomach and run over the white material of her night gown. A smile crept onto her face, a bright, genuine smile, the kind of smile she hadn't seen on her face for a long time.

Maybe that baby would get her through that hard time.

She dropped the stick into the bin and walked back into her room, then into the hall. She pushed Beth's door opened and checked the clock, realizing that it already was twenty past nine. Padding across the room and to Beth's bed, she leaned down and brushed her lips across the little girl's forehead. Beth stirred slightly but didn't budge, causing Quinn to chuckle; she was all her father, not a morning person.

"Beth, sweetie," she whispered, this time giving her an eskimo kiss. Beth smiled, then lifted her heavy lids. "Wake up. Your dad is going to be here soon."

"I wanna stay here," the six-year-old whined, then looked at Quinn. "Can you lie down with me momma?"

Quinn sighed before Beth scooted over as her mother slipped under the warm covers. She brought Beth against her body and wrapped her arms tightly around the child. "I love you, you know that?"

Beth gave her a small nod and soon her breathing slowed, indicating Quinn that she had fallen asleep. She, too, allowed herself to close her eyes.

The waking up was harsher. Quinn heard the front door slam and she shot up in the bed, her eyes setting on the clock. 11 am.

"Shit," she whispered, careful not to wake up Beth. She jumped out of the bed and quickly padded down the stairs. Tyler stood there, his suit case in his hand, still dress in his business suit. She bit her bottom lip as she walked to him. He set the suit case to his feet and marched to her. "Hey. Sorry, I overslept."

"Really?" he asked, his tone deep and low. He gripped her hip harshly and pinned her against the nearest wall. She cried in pain as her back slammed against the hard surface and his fist collided with her jaw. "I come home from an exhausting trip to bring money so we can have a decent life and you are not even capable of making breakfast or lunch? Are you really that lazy and dumb?" he pushed her to the floor and growled something that she wasn't able to make out. Then he walked away, as he always did when they fought and she slowly got up from the floor, tears threatening to fall.

When she looked up, her heart stopped. Beth was standing at the top of the stairs, her eyes widened in fear as she clutched her fluffed horse under her arm. "Oh God," Quinn said, then rushed to her daughter and knelt next to her. "Sweetie, how long have you been standing here?"

Instead of answering, Beth's eyes were locked to her bottom lip. "Mama your lip is bleeding."

Quinn reached out to wipe off the blood and cursed under her breath. "Yeah...I-I knocked into something on the floor and my jaw hit the coffee table. I am a little bit groggy. I'm fine, though. It's just a little blood," she said, brushing a piece of hair from Beth's face. "Why don't you get dressed and we'll go back to your dad's house. I think he misses you."

Beth, still hesitant, nodded her head and walked back to her bedroom to get dressed and gather her things. Meanwhile, Quinn went into her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her lip was swollen and blood was still dripping from it. A blue-ish bruise was starting to form on her jaw and she inhaled deeply. Once she had covered it up with some make up, she and Beth got out of the house and into the car. Beth was really silent and Quinn didn't really know whether she had seen something or not. If she had, there was not doubt that she was going to say something to Puck.

She couldn't bear Puck knowing. He would want to help, but she didn't need help. She was fine.

She pulled up into Puck's driveway and took Beth's bag from the passenger seat before grabbing her daughter's hand as they walked up the path to the house. Beth opened the door and Quinn followed.

Puck was making lunch when they came in and he turned around, surprised to see the two blonde girls standing there. "Hey," he greeted, scooping Beth up into his arms. Quinn smiled shyly and walked to him. "You weren't supposed to be there 'till tonight...? Gosh Quinn, what the heck happened to your lip?" he asked, his brows furrowing.

"I-I fell and knocked jaw first in the coffee table. Do you have some ice? I didn't have any at home."

"Uh, sure," Puck walked to the freezer and pulled out a pack of ice. He handed it to her and she took it between her fingers before pressing the cold to her lip, wincing in pain. Puck crossed his arms over his chest and watched her closely. She noticed it and her heart seemed to have jumped out of her chest.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just a cut,"

"No I mean are you okay? Yesterday you were bit off." he said, he couldn't help but noticed that yesterday she didn't swim and he knew she loved water, she stayed in her sweat shirt, which was weird because it was very hot.

"Just...very tired."

"All right. Well, lunch is ready. Beth!" he shouted upstairs. Beth came running down the stairs and sat on her chair. Quinn sat next to her on the round table and cut her meat, before handing the fork back to Beth and cutting the meat that was in her own plate. She wasn't really hungry so she only ate a couple of pieces and a few vegetables before she pushed the plate aside."Not hungry? Puck asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, not really. I'm feeling kind of nauseous."

"Oh."

"Momma," Beth's voice interrupted the two adults. Quinn turned to her daughter who had finished chewing on a piece of meat. "When is the next time I go to your house?"

"Not so soon honey, mommy's very busy."

At the end of the lunch, Quinn thanked Puck and hugged Beth before driving back to the house. She walked through the front door, tossed her bag on the couch and her keys on the coffee table. She wondered where Tyler was, and figured he was sleeping after the exhausting trip he had had. She walked up the stairs and toward her bedroom when his voice rang from behind her,

"Where were you?" he asked, his voice low. Quinn jumped out of her skin and turned around quickly.

"I-I drove Beth back to Puck's house."

"And that only took you an hour," he said, sarcasm dripping from his mouth. She walked backwards, ready to shield her face with her arms.

"Beth's teacher want to talk to us so we set up an appointment." she lied. He tilted his head to the side and a laugh passed through his lips.

"Could you stop lying for ONE minute!"

He backhanded her on the face and with the strength of his punch, she fell backwards and stumbled into the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she felt as if she had just been in a roller coaster. Her head hurt and soon she could see black stains everywhere around her. Her right arm was throbbing and it felt as if her breath was stuck in her throat. She coughed a few times before these coughs were replaced by sobs when she realized what had just happened. She heard him climb down the stairs rapidly then felt a kick to her stomach.

"Beth is a really cute girl, isn't she? I'm sure she trusts me. If you say a word to anybody about this, I'll make sure you don't see her again. Ever."

He then walked past her and through the front door, slamming it behind him. Quinn's hand rested on her throbbing stomach, feeling as if it was ripped in two.

Then darkness surrounded her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Name?"

"Quinn Fabray-Bailey."

"Age?"

"23."

"Injuries?"

"I think my arm is broken...? I fell down the stairs." Quinn said, looking at the nurse. The petite, dark haired woman looked up from the chart she was filling and she raised an eyebrow.

"Emergency contact?"

"My husband, Tyler Bailey."

"Do you want me to call anyone?" the nurse whose tag read Jenny asked.

"Aren't you supposed to call my emergency contact?" Quinn questioned, furrowing her brows. The nurse stared at her and Quinn shook her head. "No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?" She asked, walking to Quinn's bed. "You don't have a friend who you would like to talk to?"

"No!" Quinn snapped, slamming her healthy hand against the bed rail. "Just leave me alone please."

The nurse quietly nodded her head and laid a reassuring hand on Quinn's shoulder before stepping out of the room. Quinn looked out the window and watched as the grey clouds quickly invaded the blue sky. The door opened a few minutes later, a middle aged woman stepping in with a white lab coat.

"Hello, Quinn," she said with a small smile, then took a stool and rolled it to Quinn's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Groggy. I think I hit my head pretty hard," she answered. The woman in front of her, also known as Dr. Philips, tilted her head to the side.

"Quinn," she said, and by the sound of her voice, Quinn knew something had gone wrong. "You've lost your baby in the fall. You had a miscarriage."

Quinn remained silent, her fingers slightly brushing against her stomach as tears made their way down her face. Dr. Philips swallowed and placed her hand over her shoulder, just as the nurse did earlier. "Do you want me to call anybody? Your husband maybe?"

"No!" Quinn suddenly shouted, then shook her head. "H-he didn't know about the b-baby. It's better this way."

"A friend then?"

"I just want to be alone, alright?" she snapped, then bit back an apology when she saw sadness across the woman's features. She nodded her head, then stepped out of the room, the only sounds that could hear Quinn were her own sobs.

-0-

Quinn was getting dressed the day after, because they wanted her to stay for the night for observations, against her will. Finally she gave in after listening to the nurse's morale. She had just finished getting ready when the door swung open. Dr. Philips came in, accompanied by another woman with short blonde hair. Quinn narrowed her eyes as she stared at her.

"Morning Quinn," Dr. Philips greeted. Quinn forced a small smile and looked at her expectantly. "I've got just a few questions to ask you."

"Okay," Quinn sat on the bed and folded her hands onto her laps, though it was difficult to lace her fingers together with the cast she had on her wrist.

"What happened again, Quinn?" she asked. Quinn huffed and groaned, she knew where this was going.

"I already told you. I fell down the stairs."

"And how did you fall down the stairs?"

"I have a six-year-old daughter. Her name is Beth and I love more than anything in the world. She sometimes lives at her father or at my house, with my husband who loves me, Tyler. But she's six years old and she has a lot of toys. Yesterday, I had a basket full of sheets and laundry and I wasn't looking at the floor and Beth had left her roller skates on top of the stairs and...I tumbled down the stairs. Next time I'll tell my daughter not to let them anywhere and I'll be careful to look at where I'm going." she rambled, stopping to take a breath.

"How do you feel about the loss of your baby?" the other woman asked, some shrink probably. Quinn scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"How do you think I feel? I just lost my child! And it's all my fault. Had I watched where I was going, I wouldn't have fallen down the stairs. There, happy now? Now I have to go home feeling more empty than I ever had."

"Quinn," the same woman said. "Where was your husband when you fell down the stairs?"

"At the top of them, watching with a smirk and laughing," Quinn said sarcastically, but then again, it was the truth. But they didn't need to know that. "He was on a business trip, alright? Are we done yet?"

"Not quite," Dr. Philips answered.

"Has your husband ever been violent to you?"

"No. He's gentle, caring and I love him. And he loves me. And it's my first visit to the hospital, isn't it? See, if he was beating me up, I would have come more often. I only have one broken arm and I lost my baby. Things happen. I'm gonna be sad for a while but I'll get through it, just like I got through everything else."

With that, she got up, took her bag and walked out of the room, wiping her cheeks as she did so. She signed the release form and left the hospital her chest heavy with sadness.

-0-

She walked through the front door with a sigh, set her purse and keys on the table near the entrance of the house. She slowly marched to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, downing it, until she heard his voice. Her glass dropped into the sink and she spun around sharply. He was standing there, leaned against the doorway, his eyes staring at the cast on her wrist.

"Did I do that?" he asked, a little smirk playing on his lips. She wanted to throw up. She wasn't pregnant anymore, but there was still that taste of vomit in her mouth every time he talked. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I didn't mean to make you fall down the stairs."

"Like you didn't mean to kick me in the stomach?" she asked, glaring up at him as he now stood just in front of her. He brushed some hair from her face and his hand lingered on her cheek.

"What did you say?" he asked, grabbing her face between his fingers.

"Nothing. I'm going to bed, I need some sleep." she slid past him and started to walk toward the stairs.

"Be in shape for tonight, I'm taking you to dinner."

"I don't want to." she said.

"Excuse me?" he walked to her, his hand on his hip. "You don't get to say 'I don't want to'. You do as I ask. Am I clear? Remember what I told you about Beth yesterday."

"Yeah, I remember. I'm going to lie down, okay?"

"Fine," he growled out. "You better feel better for tonight. I'm going to keep you up all night long..." he said, yet another smirk sneaking on his lips. Quinn sucked in a breath and shuddered. She nodded and walked past him to her bedroom.

-0-

She spent the night at her mother's that night. When Tyler was out to take care of some things, she left the house with a bag for the night. When Tyler got home and realized she wasn't there, his blood started to boil. He got into his car and drove to Rachel and Finn's house. He knocked on the door several time before it finally opened. Finn stood in front of him, before stepping aside to let him come into the house.

"What's up?" he asked Tyler, who looked a little agitated.

"Is Quinn here?" he asked, looking around the living room. After hearing his voice from the kitchen, Rachel stepped into the room.

"No she isn't," Finn answered, dipping his hands into his pockets. Tyler cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Is everything okay?"

"She left the house, she was supposed to stay in. She would have told me if she planned on going anywhere." he said.

Rachel furrowed her brows and the reason of Quinn's departure was quite obvious to her. She needed air, she had just had a miscarriage after all. Quinn had told her the night before, needing to tell someone about it. But Rachel wasn't going to say anything to Tyler, not wanting to twist the knife. However, Finn, a little less empathetic, beat her to it.

"Maybe she needs to change of air, you know after what happened to the baby..." Rachel elbowed him and he cried out. "Ow! What?"

Tyler stopped as if dead in his tracks and stared at Finn. "What baby?"

Finn and Rachel both panicked. "I-I uh, she didn't tell you?"

"She didn't tell me what?"Tyler shouted.

"Q-Quinn had a miscarriage."

"Oh God," Tyler said. "S-she was pregnant?"

"Yeah, I thought she would have told you. Maybe she didn't want to hurt you is all." Rachel said, reaching to touch his shoulder. Tyler flinched away and was out of the door in the next second.

Rachel looked at Finn worriedly, chewing on her bottom lip. "We should probably tell Quinn that he knows."

"Yeah," Rachel agreed. "I'll call her."

-0-

The next morning, Quinn was supposed to pick Beth up at Puck's. Rachel had called her several times, but she didn't answer, she didn't want to talk to anybody. She figured that seeing Beth would be good for her so she called Puck and asked if she could pick her up. Puck told her that she was at Rachel and Finn's and that she could pick her up at their house. Quinn didn't really want to go there because she knew that Rachel would ask her why she hadn't picked up her phone. She entered the house and was met by a very excited Beth who didn't even noticed that she had a cast on her arm, it was pretty covered up by her sweater after all. Unfortunately, Rachel did notice.

"Hey," Rachel greeted as she awkwardly walked to Quinn. Beth had gone upstairs to take her things. "God, what happened to your arm?"

"Something stupid," Quinn said. "Beth left her roller skates at the top of the stairs and I had my arms full of laundry and wasn't looking where I was going and I stumbled down the stairs. It's just a broken arm. the doctors said it will heal pretty quickly."

"Why didn't you call me?" Rachel asked, her shoulders slumping. Quinn shrugged and said,

"You have your own problems. I didn't want to bother you."

"Tyler knows," Rachel blurted out. "He knows about the baby. He went by the house yesterday and asked where you were. Finn told him that you might have needed some air after what had happened. I'm so sorry Quinn I didn't know."

Quinn forced a smile. "It's fine. I would have ended up telling him anyway," She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and smiled once again. Then she shouted up the stairs. "Beth! I'll wait for you in the car, alright?"

She waved goodbye to Rachel and got out of the house. A minute later, Beth bounced down the stairs. She hugged Rachel and kissed her on the cheek before waving her goodbye. When she arrived at the door, Rachel called her,

"Beth," the little girl turned around. "Be careful not to leave your skates at the top of the stairs next time."

The seven-year-old frowned. "But I don't have any skates aunt Rachel."

She then left the house, leaving a very puzzled Rachel behind her.

* * *

Rachel almost knows...It's going to take a little while for Puck to know though. Just be patient. Remember the deal, 10 reviews = Karel more motivated and a new chapter by tomorrow! :D


	6. Chapter 6

A/N : Thank you very much for your amazing reviews.

* * *

Quinn woke up the day after at her mom's, Beth next to her. She kissed the girl on the forehead and then checked her phone on her nightstand. 15 missed calls.

Seven from Tyler.

Five from Rachel.

Three from Finn.

She shuddered and closed her eyes for a moment, before drawing out a deep breath and getting out of bed. She wrapped the covers higher around Beth and kissed her nose before padding out of the room, after putting on her robe. When she came down the stairs, she directly went to the kitchen, where her mom was cooking breakfast, as usual in the morning.

However, someone was sitting at the table and just from seeing the person's back, she knew who it was. She swallowed hard and took yet another deep breath. "Hi," she said to her mom, then turned to Tyler who stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I talk to you outside?" he asked, but it was more of an order than a question. Quinn nodded her head and walked with him to the front porch. As soon as he had cosed the door, his gaze darkened. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Excuse me?" Quinn scoffed. "I do whatever I want. I'm an adult."

"Quinn, Quinn, Quinn," he said with a little smile. "How many times do I have to tell you that you don't do anything without my permission? See, you are not even capable of keeping a baby!"

Quinn clenched her teeth. "If you hadn't pushed me down the stairs, I would still be pregnant, asshole."

He grabbed her upper-arm and squeezed until he was sure he had left a mark. "Don't talk to me like that. You are going to come home tonight, and we are going to practice for another baby."

"I can't," she said, looking down.

"What do you mean you can't?" he spat out.

"I just had a miscarriage. I can't have sex yet."

"I don't care," he said. "I have needs."

"You despise me," she snapped, shaking her head. He pointed a finger at her and whispered,

"Be careful with what you're saying Quinn. Otherwise you know what will happen to Rachel or Beth. It would be sad, wouldn't it? They are both so young."

He walked away from her and into his car, drove away as quickly as possible. Quinn got back into the house and up the stairs to check her phone and the messages Rachel had left.

_"Quinn, please call me back, I really need to talk to you, it's important."_

_"Quinn! I'm worried about you, please don't do anything stupid, talk to me. Call me back. Love you."_

_"Sweetie, I really need to know if you are okay. Call me back, 'K?" _

Quinn sighed and tossed the phone onto the comforter just as Beth's eyes opened. She smiled and knelt onto the bed, brushing hair from her daughter's face.

"Mommy?" Beth's sleepy voice spoke.

"Hey sweetie. Sleep okay?"

Beth nodded her head. "Yep. I like to sleep next to you. You smell real good."

Quinn laughed and gave Beth an Eskimo kiss. "I love you baby girl. Go back to sleep, 'K? It's still early."

She got off the bed and when she was at the doorway, Beth called.

"Momma?" Quinn spun around and raised her eyebrows, encouraging her daughter to elaborate. "Are you, daddy and me ever going to be a family again? Like a real family where you live with us and we'd have a dog and a garden and a pool like uncle Finn and aunt Rachel?"

"I don't know sweetie."

Beth seemed satisfied with her answer and snuggled back under the covers. Quinn sighed, wishing she would be able to give Beth a better life than that.

-0-

"Quinn," a voice startled her when she walked into the house. She spun around and saw Puck at the entrance. She sighed in relief and and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Puck," she acknowledged, setting her purse on the table and starting to walk to the door, figuring he would follow her. "What are you doing here?"

"Were you ever going to tell me?" he spat out, hot on her heels. She stepped into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.

She rose an eyebrow, "About...?"

"Stop it. Stop playing dumb with me. The broken arm, the flinching...Rachel told me about her doubts. Did that motherfucker did this to you?"

"No he didn't."

He slammed his hand on the wooden table and Quinn jumped at the sound. "God damnit Quinn! This story with the stairs, it's bullshit!" He shouted. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that Tyler has never hit you. Tell me right in the eye."

Quinn clenched her teeth and locked eyes with him. "Tyler has never hurt me. The fall down the stairs was an accident."

Puck scoffed and shook his head. "Why are you covering for him Quinn?"

"I love him and he loves me, and he loves Beth. He loves the both of us," she said, then couldn't help herself but whispered, "Something you don't seem to be capable of."

A look of hurt lay across his face and she felt awful about saying those words to him. Instead of storming out like she thought he would, he took a step forward. His hand slowly rose and set upon her cheek, his thumb brushing against the apple of her cheek. She knew she should push him away, but it had been a long time since she hadn't been touched in such a gentle way.

"I love you Quinn. I've never stopped."

He then leaned closer and his lips ever so slightly brushed against hers. When she didn't pull away, he pressed their lips together and Quinn got lost in it. It was soft, gentle and full of love. He moved his lips slowly against her bruised ones and Quinn felt a shiver run all the way down her spine; she didn't remember being kissed that gently for a long time.

When she felt his tongue trace the seam of her lower lip, she came back to her senses. Pushing against his chest, she broke apart and took a step back.

"I can't do this," she breathed out, wiping off her mouth.

"Why?" Puck asked, throwing his hands up in the air. "Because if he finds out he's going to push you down the stairs?"

"Get out of my house."

"Quinn," he begged. "Please, let me in. I can't do anything if you don't tell me everything! Say the word and I'll break that sick bastard's face in two."

"Puck," Quinn said. "Stop it. I'm telling you, there's nothing going on. And I swear to god, if he ever lies a hand on me, I'll will call you."

"I just want to protect you Quinn, I love you."

"Well I _don't_," she snapped. "At least not like you do. I can't forgive you, alright? You should have thought about the consequences of your actions a few years ago. I love Tyler. Why don't you get that through your mohawk and then get the hell out of my house."

Puck shook his head once again and when she glared at him, he clenched his fists but walked to the front door. Tyler was lucky that he wasn't here right now or Puck would have beaten the hell out of him.

-0-

At the beginning of the night, just as Tyler walked through the front door, Quinn couldn't help but think about Puck's words. She knew she should do something but she wouldn't. She was too scared for her friends and Beth. And hell, even for Puck. Because she loved him. As a friend, but she still loved him, they had had a story together and he was always going to be the father of her first child.

She was finishing preparing dinner when Tyler stepped into the kitchen, "Hi baby," he said, walking to her and hooking his arms around her waist from behind. He placed a kiss on the back of her neck and bare shoulder. Quinn shrugged him off and he sighed before going to the counter and pouring himself a glass of whiskey which he downed, pouring then another one.

They sat down to eat the fish Quinn had cooked and it was rather silent as usual, they only talked about their day. As soon as Tyler had finished eating, she took hers and his plate and put them in the sink. Tyler poured himself yet another glass of whiskey and stood up, walking to her. She shuddered as she felt his breath on her neck and when his hand traveled below her waist.

"Can you wait please?" she said, brushing his hand off. "I'm doing the dishes right now."

"They will still be there tomorrow. It's been a long time Quinn, I need you," He got closer to her and pressed his body against hers, the feeling of his arousal against her thigh making her want to vomit. He turned her around and pinned her against the counter, crashing his lips hungrily onto hers. It was different from Puck's kiss. That one was full of lust and desire and anger. He thrust his tongue into her mouth as his hand hooked below her knee and pulled her leg up. His lips left hers and traveled to her neck. It wasn't soft kisses, he was nipping and biting at her her skin, as if to make sure to leave a mark, to show everybody that she was his.

"Tyler," she said, trying to push him away. "I don't want this."

"We wouldn't want to_ fall_ down the stairs again now, would we?" he asked, a smirk on his lips. Quinn bit back a sob and closed her eyes and she felt his rough hands hook in the sides of her panties and pull them down. He lifted her dress up her waist and she heard his belt drop to the floor.

Then she shut her eyes as tight as possible and bit down on her lower lip as she clutched the edges of the counter. Her vision started to be blurry as he thrust into her, pain invading her entire body. His head rested in the crook of her neck as his hands remained underneath her thigh to keep them wrapped around his waist. When he pulled out and let go of her legs, she fell to the floor, sobbing harder and louder than she had ever done before. She heard him zip his pants back up and laugh quietly. Then the front door slammed, and Quinn let the unconsciousness take her.

-0-

Rachel and Finn were having a quite dinner with lit candles and soft music, the room decorated, it was after all, their wedding anniversary. Champagne was on the table and they sipped their drinks as they ate the delicious meal Finn had prepared. They were supposed to be in bliss, all smiling and laughing but Quinn's situation had them more worried than ever.

"I'm almost sure, Finn. When she bent down to pick up that napkin, her shirt rode up and I saw a large bruise on the small of her back," Rachel said, looking at her husband. Finn sighed and squeezed her hand.

"What if she had really fallen down the stairs? Not that I would want to believe that because Tyler has been acting weird, but the fall would explain the bruises."

"Finn, she lied to me! Why would she tell me about those roller skates? Clearly they don't exist!"

"Rach, I want to help her more than anything, I do. But if she doesn't tell us anything, we have no proof against Tyler. She's an adult, we can't force her to leave her own house and we can't call the police if she's going to deny everything."

"I just want to help her before it's too late. I'm so scared for her."

A knock came to the door and both Finn and Rachel both frowned. It was already ten, who could be there at this hour? Finn stood up and walked to the front door while Rachel put the dishes away. He opened the door, before gasping when he saw his blonde friend on the other side. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had mascara running down her face and she was just in a dress and small cardigan.

"Oh God, Quinn," he took her into the house and as soon as she had stepped through the door, Quinn erupted into sobs. "Rach!"

Rachel walked from the kitchen to the living room, confused. "What is-" she stopped short when she caught sight of her best friend. "Quinn...Sweetie,"

"C-could I stay here for a couple of days?"she stammered between sobs. Rachel rushed to hug her friend and looked at Finn worriedly.

"Of course. You can stay here as long as you want."

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Finally! But don't think it's over so quickly, more drama to go. This will be probably a twenty-ish chapters story. Wanna see what happens next? Click the little button! ;)

Merci ! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel wrapped her arms around Quinn carefully, sharing a worried glance with Finn. The girl sobbed into the brunette's shoulder and her eyes filled with tears. "It's okay," Rachel whispered as her hands travelled on Quinn's back in circles. "Shh, you are okay now."

Quinn stayed silent, her sobs getting quieter. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Finn, can you fix some dinner for her?"

Finn, who had been frozen in his spot ever since Quinn stepped through the door, snapped out of his daze and looked at his wife. "Yeah."

Rachel pulled away from the blonde and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She helped her up the stairs and into the guest bedroom. She smiled as best as she could at Quinn as she looked for some towels while Quinn awkwardly stood in the middle of the room. "How about a shower?"

Quinn nodded. "Okay."

Rachel walked with Quinn to the bedroom's bathroom and placed two perfectly clean and folded beige towels atop the counter. "Call me if you need anything, I'll be right outside, okay?"

Quinn nodded her head once again and as soon as Rachel closed the door behind her, she slid down to the floor and covered her head with her hands. Her whole body hurt, especially between her legs. She had changed clothes before going to Finn and Rachel's so they wouldn't notice the blood that had gotten on her panties and dress.

After a few minutes, she heard a knock to the door. When she didn't respond, it opened. Rachel popped her head in and smiles sadly. "I didn't hear any water running so I got worried," Quinn stayed motionless. Rachel walked to her and took her hand, lifting her off the floor. "Come on, I'll help you."

She took off Quinn's cardigan from her body and dropped it to the floor before carefully unzipping the dress she wore. When it pooled to her ankles, Rachel gasped. Quinn's back was covered in bruises and the most obvious were the ones on her hip bones. She looked into the mirror in front of them and Quinn's stomach was in the same shape. Noticing Quinn's discomfort, Rachel gently rubbed her hands on the blonde's arms.

"It's alright," she said sweetly, smiling at Quinn in the mirror. But truthfully, she was shocked by how skinny Quinn had gotten. She was almost just skin and bones and she felt guilty about not finding out about this sooner.

After the shower, Rachel dried Quinn's body and her hair, before going back into the bedroom and pulling out some pajamas. She sat Quinn on the bed and crouched at her level. Carefully, she took off Quinn's wet bra and quickly pulled the shirt over her head. Hesitant at first, she then hooked her fingers in the sides of her panties, not able to tear her eyes off the blue marks on her inner thighs.

As soon as her fingers made contact with the sides of her panties, Quinn jumped a bit, startled. She brushed Rachel's hands away as a sob escaped her lips. Rachel swallowed hard and brushed a piece of hair from Quinn's face sweetly. "It's alright, we'll leave them on."

She pulled some yoga pants on Quinn's legs and kissed her forehead. "There," she said as she stood up. Quinn didn't blink, she stared at the wall blankly. "Finn must have fixed you some dinner."

"I'm not very hungry," Quinn murmured. Rachel knew she should tell her to eat something but she couldn't push her too much right now. She laid her hand on Quinn's cheek, her thumb running over Quinn's cheekbone as she nodded her head.

"Okay." Rachel said softly. She kissed Quinn's forehead once again and walked to the door. "If you need anything we'll be downstairs." she then walked out of the room and down the stairs before stepping into the kitchen where Finn had just finished fixing something for Quinn. "It's not necessary, she isn't hungry."

"How is she?" Finn asked. Rachel felt the tears that she had managed to hold back earlier fill her eyes.

"It's horrible," she choked out. Finn walked to her and pulled her into a warm embrace. "What he did to her, it's horrible."

"Shh. She's safe now. It will be alright."

"How come we didn't find about this sooner? All the sighs were here! The heavy clothes, the sun glasses, the distance between her and Tyler...I can believe I didn't do anything to help her!"

"Hey, hey," Finn said as he cupped Rachel's face with his large hands. "This is not your fault. You can't blame yourself."

"What are we going to tell Puck?" Rachel asked as she pulled away from her husband.

"I don't know. I'm afraid he is going to do something stupid if we tell him." Finn said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Finn," Rachel breathed out. "He's going to find out eventually when he is going to see her here."

A knock to the door interrupted them both and Rachel sucked in a breath. "You think it's him?"

"Probably. Go upstairs with Quinn, I'll take care of it."

"No, I'm not leaving. I wanna give him some piece of mind." Rachel stubbornly and she walked to the door, Finn hot on her heels. She opened the door and on the other side stood a very agitated Tyler. Finn gently pushed Rachel aside and stood in front of her.

"What do you want?" he spat out, his fists clenching at his sides.

"I know Quinn is here. I need to talk to her." Tyler said, stepping forward only to be pushed away by the tall quarterback.

"You ain't going anywhere near her, understood?"

Rachel stepped in front of Finn. "Do you even realize what you did to her? You broke her! She is broken, she's hurt!"

"She shouldn't have lied to me!" Tyler shouted, "She shouldn't have fooled around with Puckerman behind my back!"

"She didn't! Quinn loved you. Until you laid hands on her," Rachel shouted back, her face getting redder and redder as she shot daggers at Tyler with her dark eyes.

"Listen lady, you don't know anything about her." Tyler spat out, walking forward. Finn saw red and his fist collided with Tyler's cheek before the dark haired man was able to process what was happening.

"Go the fuck away." Finn growled out as Tyler gently stood up, wiping his bloody lip. "Or I'll call the police."

"I'm gonna get her back," Tyler spat out. "Soon she going to realize that she's nothing without me and that you don't really love. Then she's going to gently crawl back to me."

Finn slammed the door and locked it behind him. He then watched as Tyler walked back to his car and when he saw the red car pull away, he turned to his wife. Something creaked upstairs, causing them to look up. Quinn stood there, at the top of the stairs. She slowly walked them down and stood in front of Rachel and Quinn.

"Sweetie, do you want to eat something?" Rachel asked, and, as if on cue, Quinn's stomach growled. "Well, I guess that's a yes. Come on," She took Quinn's hand into hers and led her to the kitchen. Quinn sat down at the table and Rachel slid a plate with a steak, some vegetables and noodles. Finn walked in and sat down in front of Quinn, squeezing the hand that laid onto the table.

"Quinn," he started. "We need to go to the police soon. We have to get Tyler arrested."

"No!" she shouted, startling both Rachel and Quinn. "He t-told me that he would hurt Beth or you if I told the police. I can't risk that, I-I can't."

"Beth is perfectly safe with Puck, and so are we. You have nothing to worry about. I'll go with you to the police tomorrow, alright?"

Quinn was hesitant at first, but finally nodded. Shyly, she began to eat her food. Rachel shot a look to her husband as she sat down next to her best friend. "Puck should know."

Quinn shook her head as Finn pressed on. "He needs to know. He is going to find out eventually, it's better if we tell him."

"Fine," Quinn said. When she went to bed around nine, Rachel called Puck, telling him he needed to come to their house, that it was important. He groaned at first, telling them he was tired but still came, Beth asleep in his arms as he stepped through the door. Rachel took her from him and walked up the stairs, pushing Quinn's bedroom opened. The blonde was laying awake with the lights on.

"Look who's here," She whispered to Quinn who sat up and took Beth into her arms. The girl stirred and opened her eyes.

"Momma," she then sighed contently and curled into Quinn's embrace as Rachel put the covers over their body. Rachel smiled and walked out of the bedroom. When she got downstairs and into the kitchen, Puck was sat down at the table, drinking a glass of water.

"So, what's up?" he asked, frowning.

"Noah..."

"Woah, hold on. You only call me that when something's going on. What happened?" he asked, sitting up, his eyebrows knitted together.

"It's about Quinn..." Rachel began. Puck's head shot up and he swallowed.

"What's going on, is she okay?"

"She's fine. Or at least she's going to be. She's safe."

"What do you mean safe?" Puck almost shouted, but then remembered his daughter was sleeping upstairs."What the fuck happened?"

Rachel took a deep breath and felt tears fill her eyes. Finn took it as a clue to continue. "She's been through a rough couple of months. Physically and emotionally."

"What do you mean? Just spit it out, already!"

He immediately regretted what he had just said, especially after hearing Rachel's answer, which made his stomach churn,

"Tyler hit her. Several times." she then chocked back a sob and Puck fell silent, completely astonished by the piece of information. When disbelief washed off his body, anger invaded it. He stood up harshly, almost knocking the chair to the floor. Rachel jumped as Finn stood as well.

"Where is that motherfucker?" He walked to the door, Finn and Rachel hot on his heels.

"What are you doing Puck?" Finn shouted behind him.

"I'm gonna find that fucking bastard and beat him to death for what he did to Quinn, for what he did to the woman that I _love_, the mother of my child. He fucking deserves to be buried alive." He grabbed his keys from the table and was about to open the door when it slammed into his face. "Move Finn."

"No," Finn said, standing in front of Puck. "As much as I want to beat the shit out of him too, I can't let you do that. Tomorrow I'm driving Quinn to the police station and he's going to be arrested, end of the story. What matters to me, and what should matter to you, is that Quinn is safe."

Puck clenched his jaw and his hands balled into fits as his sides. "I need to get some air." he pushed past Finn and walked out of the house, not bothering to close the door behind him. As soon as he got on the porch, he slammed his fist hard on the wooden pillar. "Damn it!"

Rachel rushed to him and wrapped an arm around his broad shoulders. "Come on Puck, stop. It's not going to help."

"I can't believe I didn't see anything. I mean...I see her every fucking day and I didn't even..."

"You can't blame yourself. The only one to blame is Tyler."

"Son of a bitch." Puck growled out and winced when he balled his fist, the colliding with the pillar having ripped his knuckles. Rachel noticed and led him toward the house.

"Come on, let's put some ice on it." When they walked back at the entrance and into the living room, Quinn stood at the bottom of the stairs, a robe tightly wrapped around her slim body. Their gazes met and Puck felt a heavy pain set onto his chest upon seeing her sad and empty eyes. He let go of Rachel and slowly walked to the blonde.

"I-I..." she began but emotion overwhelmed her and she was soon shaking as new sobs racked through her body. He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her. He didn't hold too tight, fearing that he might hurt her. Quinn stood motionless at first but soon hooked her own arms around him as the sobs got heavier.

"Shhh," he whispered into her ear as his hand rose and swiftly stroked her silky honey hair. His hands lay upon her neck and she flinched, pulling away from him. She took a step back and wrapped her own arms around herself as she breathed heavily.

_"Sweetheart," Tyler's voice rang in her ears as Quinn was doing laundry. "I love you." his hand came on her hip and he pressed himself against her as he brought his hand to brush a few fallen curls from the back of her neck. _

_Quinn's hands shook and she swallowed. "I-I love you too." she escaped him then, walking toward the stairs. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, his arms wrapping around her. He kissed her swiftly and brought his hand on the back of her neck to deepen the kiss. _

"Quinn," Puck's voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"I can't do this," she said.

Puck's mouth opened in confusion as he tried to speak. "Whatever I did...I'm sorry."

"I-I just need to-" She stopped abruptly as memories filled her mind one again. She felt the bile rise to her throat and ran to the nearest bathroom in the vast house. She stumbled into the light pink room and emptied the contents of her dinner into the ceramic bowl. Her body shook with sobs then and she felt Rachel's hand on her back and her other hand gently grabbing her hair.

"I'm so sorry," Quinn chocked out before she once again emptied her stomach.

"It's alright," Rachel whispered, kissing Quinn's temple. "You are safe now."

She didn't really feel like she was.

* * *

What happens next? Review to find out!

Merci! :)


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you so much for your reviews.

* * *

"Name?" the officer in front of her asked. Quinn had her hands folded on her lap, both Rachel and Finn's ones covering hers.

"Quinn Fabray B-baley."

"Age?" he then asked, barely looking up from his file. Quinn swallowed before answering.

"23."

"For what reason do you want to drop a deposition and against who?" he then asked and Quinn felt the bile rose from her stomach. She shook her head and spoke,

"M-my husband, Tyler Baley."

"What's the reason?" Quinn suddenly fell silent. Her eyes rimmed with tears and it was as if her voice had died down in her throat. Rachel gave her hand a squeeze and took the matter in her own hands.

"Abusing. He was abusing her."

The officer's face went blank and he cleared his throat. "I see. Let me call the responsible of that area." he stood and quickly walked away. A few minutes later, a man in a suit sat in front of them. He took out his notebook and a pen.

"Hello miss, I'm detective Lawrence and I'm going to ask you a few questions. Perhaps it would be better if your friends left." his gaze shifted between Finn and Rachel who were ready to stand up when Quinn shook her head.

"Can they stay, please?"

"As you wish," the detective smiled kindly as he opened his leather covered notebook. "So, Mrs. Fabray, is Mr. Baley your first husband?"

"Yes."

"And has he ever been violent before your wedding?"

"He was easily jealous but no, he has never been violent." Quinn answered.

"When did he start to be violent?" the brown haired middle aged man asked as he finished writing down what Quinn had just said.

"A few months after our wedding. It was just a lot of yelling at first then he-he slapped m-me once."

The detective nodded and kept on with his questions as Quinn grew more and more tense. "Was he the one who pushed you down the stairs?"

"H-he didn't mean it. He t-thought I-I was having an affair with my ex and he got mad. I was standing at the very top of the stairs and walked backwards without looking. I stumbled down. He didn't do anything."

"Quinn," Dt. Lawrence said. "You are safe now. You can tell the truth."

"It's the truth." Quinn insisted. The man narrowed his eyes for a second before sighing.

"Has he ever abused you sexually?"

Quinn's head was pounding at the words and her heartbeat accelerated. What if Tyler found out that she had gone to the cops? He was going to kill her for sure. Breathing was harder to come and her hands began to shake.

"I can't do this. I-I need to go." she abruptly stood up, knocking the chair down. She pulled the door opened harshly and stormed out of the room. Rachel followed her.

"Quinn!" she shouted, her short legs trying to catch the rapid pace of the blonde. Quinn didn't stop and directed herself towards the nearest toilet stall. She collapsed on the tile floor and emptied her stomach into the ceramic bowl. She hadn't been able to contain any food she ate ever since the day before. She slammed the door behind her and locked it. As she dried heaved again, she heard the bathroom door open and Rachel's heels clicking against the tile floor.

"Quinn," Rachel's voice echoed in the room. "Open the door sweetie."

"Go away," Quinn spat out. "I don't want to talk to anybody. Just go away."

"I won't set a foot outside this room until I have you with me." Rachel said stubbornly.

"Are you fucking deaf?" Quinn shouted, then rose from the floor and snatched the door opened, startling Rachel. "I don't want anybody to save me, I don't deserve any of you, I'm sick of you being around me all the time. If you stay around me you are going to get hurt. Worse, you are going to get killed. That's what he told me and you shouldn't play with him. He is going to come back, it is not over, I'm not safe nor are you, nor is Beth. And if something happens, it will be all my fault! So go away before you regret it."

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, clearly not impressed or scared by Quinn outburst. "I won't. Quinn you are my best friend. I won't let anything happen to you, even if I put myself in danger. And you need us, stop acting like you don't. Now we are going to finish this deposition, then we'll go home and get Beth and Puck to come to our house. Alright?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Nope, you don't," Rachel said with a slight smile as she grabbed Quinn's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Come on."

-0-

"Momma!" Beth exclaimed as soon as her eyes had set upon her mother's figure. Quinn's face broke into a smile, and Rachel knew it was a good idea because she hadn't seen Quinn smile like that all day. Beth launched herself into Quinn's arms and hugged her tight.

"Hey bug," Quinn whispered as she inhaled the scent of Beth's soft hair. She closed her eyes and lost herself in Beth's hug. Puck stood at the door, not really sure if he should stay there or greet her. After what had happened the night before, he was afraid to scare her. Quinn place Beth back down and her eyes traveled to Puck. "Hi."

"Hey," he waved at her with a smile and Rachel almost felt the urge to roll her eyes.

"Mom?" Beth asked as she looked up to Quinn. "Can me, daddy and you go to the park today?"

Quinn looked into Beth's puppy eyes and couldn't say no. "Yes, why not? To which park do you want to go to?"

"The one next to your house! I like it and there's also monkey bars near the slide!"

Quinn swallowed as she shook her head. "I don't think so Beth. How about the one near the mall?"

"But this one hasn't got any monkey bars! Please mommy?"

"I-I..."

"Enough Beth," Puck's firm voice echoed. "We'll go to the one near the mall."

Beth huffed. "Fine."

Quinn breathed out a sigh of relief as she mouthed to Puck a _Thank you_. Beth grabbed her coat and handed Quinn hers. "Thank you Beth."

The three of them walked outside and started down the sidewalk. Beth was ahead of them from a few meters and Puck walked close to Quinn. She kept her head down the whole walk, her arms wrapped around herself.

"I'm sorry about last night Quinn." Puck said, stopping to look at her.

"It's okay, I just wasn't feeling too good is all. You didn't do anything wrong." Quinn replied, finally looking up to him. He nodded his head and gave her hand a squeeze. The feel of his skin against hers sent a chill down her spine and she shuddered slightly.

They got to the park a while later and Beth immediately took off towards the slide. Puck and Quinn sat on the bench near the slide, watching as their daughter talked to one of her friends she had at school. Puck spotted an ice cream seller at the corner of the street.

"Want some ice-cream?" Puck asked, shifting his gaze to the blonde next to him. Quinn answered after a few seconds.

"Sure,"

"Caramel, right?"

"Yeah."

Puck stood and while he was ordering the ice creams, Quinn watched happily as Beth played with her friends. The smile slowly fade when she felt a presence behind her. Her head quickly snapped to her right and her breath caught in her throat as she stood.

"Tyler," she said, her hands starting to shake. "What are you doing here?"

"I was scared sweetheart, I didn't know where you were," he said, and Quinn almost believed he was sincere. He took a step forward and Quinn took one back.

"Don't touch me." she said firmly, wrapping her arms around her. Tyler scoffed and his gaze traveled to Beth.

"She's beautiful. But a little vulnerable, isn't she?" he asked, smirking at Quinn before staring back at Beth. "I won't do anything to her if you nicely come back home with me."

"In your dreams," Puck's voice came and Tyler spun around to see him standing near Quinn.

"Puckerman coming to your rescue, aw, isn't it cute...But you don't deserve him Quinn. You are nothing without me, remember?"Tyler sneered out. Puck clenched his jaw and his fists balled.

"I..." Quinn began but her voice suddenly died in her throat.

"Come on Quinn, come back home with me," when he reached to touch her, Puck's fist collided with his nose. He then grabbed Tyler's collar and slammed him against a tree.

"Walk away quickly before I do something I won't regret." Puck said, tightening his grip on Tyler. He then let go, pushing Tyler to the ground. He wrapped his arm around Quinn's waist protectively and gave her forehead a kiss. He then called Beth, thankful she had been oblivious the whole time and the three of them made their way back home.

"Thank you." Quinn whispered as they started to walk up the path of the sidewalk. "For defending me."

"I told you Quinn, I won't let anything happen to you." He squeezed her hand and she tightened her grip on his, not wanting to let go.

"You forgot about the ice creams."she said quietly with a sheepish smile.

"Shall I go buy some?"

Quinn bit down on her bottom lip and she looked up at him through her lashes. "Yes please,"

"You are lucky you're cute." he said. When he returned, Beth snatched the ice cream from Puck's hand before he knew what was happening and Quinn stifled a laugh.

"I told you she had you wrapped around her pinky finger."

"Maybe that's because she's your daughter. You are all evil you Fabrays."

"She's a Puckerman too."

He simply stuck his tongue at her and laughed when she rolled her eyes. Quinn hadn't felt that good in a very long time. Would she ever see the light at the end of the tunnel?

-0-

"Aunt Rachel?" Beth spoke as Rachel dried the little girl's hair after Beth had taken her bath.

"Yes?"

"Why is momma living here now?" she asked, and Rachel's hands stilled onto her daughter's hands. She gave Beth's shoulder a squeeze before speaking,

"Because Tyler has done some very bad things and hurt your mom. She wasn't safe anymore so she came here." Rachel explained softly and she watched as Beth's eyes widened.

"What kind of things?"

"Really bad things Beth. But now she is safe, it's all that matters."

Silence filled the room as Rachel put Beth into her pajamas. She then brushed her blond hair and made sure she brushed her teeth. She then tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead.

"Aunt Rachel?" Beth asked once again. The brunette turned to her goddaughter and raised an eyebrow, looking at the little girl expectantly. "Do you think me, mommy and daddy will be a family someday?"

Rachel sighed and racked her hand through Beth's curled hair. "I don't know sweetie. It's up to them. But you daddy really hurt you mommy back then and she doesn't trust him anymore."

"Did he hurt mommy like Tyler did?" Beth then asked.

"No, he didn't. Tyler is a very very bad man. Your dad just made one mistake that hurt your mom but he's one of the nicest men I know."

The tears that began to race down Beth's cheeks broke Rachel's heart. She reached down to wipe them with her thumb and caressed Beth's cheek. "Why are you crying sweetie?"

"I want my mommy and my daddy to be in love again. I wanna have a family and a baby sister or a baby brother. I'm tired of going once to mommy's house and then go back to daddy's house. I want them to laugh, to kiss until it's gross, and daddy to tickle mommy in the kitchen when we eat breakfast like he used to. I want them to both tuck me in and read me a story or sing to me 'till I fall asleep." Beth sobbed, her body shaking. Rachel's eyes also rimmed with tears as she tried to find words to comfort her goddaughter.

"How 'bout tonight I'm the one to sing you a song?" Rachel asked, her index running over Beth's chubby cheek.

"Okay."

-0-

"Puck," Quinn breathed out as she saw him standing at the doorway through her mirror. "What are you doing here?"

She was only wearing a tank top and small shorts, thinking that she was alone so it didn't matter. Puck didn't speak at first, his gaze drawn by the sight of the large marks covering her arms and thighs as well as her neck. Feeling his gaze on her body, she quickly grabbed her robe from the side of the tub and wrapped it around herself.

"Quinn," he finally said, taking a few hesitant steps towards her.

"What do you want?" she said, her voice annoyed. After this eventful day, she only wanted one thing: get under the warm covers and fall asleep.

"How could you not tell me?" he asked and she resisted the urge to scoff.

"What would have I told you? Dear Puck, my husband hits me. Love, Quinn."

"Stop it."

"You don't get it Puck, do you? Of course you don't. Well let me break it down to you. I don't trust you, alright? I stopped trusting you ever since that day. Why don't you forget about me and get back to your nice and peaceful little life?"

"It's not fair Quinn."

"Right. You know what else is not fair? What you did to me! How could you even...No, you know what? I'm done with you. I'm done with men. Get out."

"Quinn..."

"Get. The. Fuck. Out of my room."

Puck sighed and walked away, his nerves getting the best of him. As soon as she heard the door slam, she collapsed onto the floor as hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

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What happened between Puck and Quinn, any guesses? Anonymous reviews are now allowed, thanks WhiteonWhite for the suggestion ;)

Merci ! :)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N : Thank you very much for your amazing reviews, I'm kinda speechless. I've never had such a great feedback for a story.

Flashbacks are in italics. Enjoy.

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_"Mama!" Quinn heard from the baby monitor when she was finally drifting off to asleep. Beth had been sick for the past few hours and she had finally gotten her to calm down. She stood from the bed, checking the hour on the clock alarm. It was 3 am and Puck wasn't home. Worry got the best of her and once again, she dialed his phone number. _

_"It's Puck, leave a message and I'll call you back." Quinn sighed once again as the beep echoed into the phone. "Puck, it's me. I don't know where the hell you are but Beth is sick and I really need you right now. I have my exams tomorrow, I need my sleep. Please come home?" _

_She dropped her phone onto the bed and walked to Beth's room across the small apartment. She pushed opened the door and saw Beth sitting in her crib, tears streaming down her chubby cheeks. "Hey baby," she picked her up and kissed her forehead. "You're very warm. Here, let me check." _

_She grabbed the thermometer from its box and placed the tip into Beth's ear. When the beeping sound was heard she read the screen. 104. _

_"Okay bug," Quinn tried to sooth her but Beth's cries only got louder. "Shhh, its alright. Mama is taking you to the hospital." she took Beth's bag with the things she needed and grabbed her phone and coat before leaving the apartment and hopping into the car. She drove off the little road of their building and took the main road. Beth's cries were still loud and Quinn kept checking on her in the rear viewer. "Calm down please Sweetie."_

_She started humming a song to try to get Beth to calm down and when the little girl's cries finally quieted, Quinn turned around with a smile. "Thank you baby. We are almost there." She grabbed her phone and once again dialed Puck's number. _

_"Hello?" a groggy voice answered. _

_"Puck! Where the hell are you?"_

_"Quinn? Could you not speak so loudly please?" _

_"Are you drunk? Listen, I don't have time for this. Beth is sick, her temperature is over a hundred degrees. I'm on my way to the hospital right now, meet me there."_

_"Yeah, okay." _

_Quinn threw her phone on the floor and thought she was going to break down any second now. Taking a deep breath, she looked up from her steering wheel and looked ahead; She hadn't expected to see a SUV coming right toward her car. Before she had time to turn the wheel, the colliding metals sound had already echoed. _

_Rachel sat in the hospital waiting room with Beth in her lap, thankfully the little girl was alright, she was just waiting for the doctors to check on her fever. However, Quinn was still unconscious and the doctors said that she had a collapsed lung and a head concussion. She was humming a song to a very distraught Beth when Puck walked through the doors of the hospital. He quickly spotted Rachel and rushed to her. _

_"Is Beth alright? Where's Quinn?" he asked, looking around. Rachel's nose wrinkled as she smelt Puck's breath._

_"Are you drunk?" _

_"I'm not drunk," he said as he lifted Beth from Rachel's lap and kissed her forehead. _

_"Oh really? Then why can I smell whiskey right in your breath?"_

_Puck brushed off Rachel's comment and asked, "Where is Quinn?"_

_"Quinn got in a car accident while taking Beth to the hospital."_

_Puck's eyes widened. "What? Is she alright?" _

_"She's still unconscious but yeah, she should be okay. You really are an asshole," Rachel spat out. "She needed you tonight because your daughter was sick and she needed to be taken to the hospital. She left you dozen of messages Puck! You stink alcohol and you party almost every night. Now I know why Quinn wanted to give Beth up. You are not a responsible father nor a responsible boyfriend. Who did you fuck tonight huh? It must be hard to hold yourself when Quinn is studying and she's too tired to do anything, huh?" _

_"I didn't do anything! I love both Beth and Quinn. I just...I'm still Puck and I'm a man, it's been way too long." _

_"I can't believe you right now," Rachel said, shaking her head. _

_"Please don't say anything to Quinn," Puck said. _

_"I won't. Because she has a lot on her shoulders right now. But you better not screw up again or I'll tell her everything." _

**_A few days later_**

_"Are you settled?" Puck asked as he laid Quinn on their bed and fluffed the pillow behind her head. _

_"Yeah, thanks." he smiled and kissed her forehead. "I'm going to take care of Beth, okay? Call me if you need anything." _

_He walked out of the room and Quinn sighed before closing her eyes, hoping she could sleep for a little while. When she woke up two hours later, she called Puck several times but he didn't answer. She took his phone from the bedside table to check the hour but New Message was written on the screen. She didn't know the number and curiosity got the best of her. She opened it and read,_

_Had a great time yesterday. Especially during the night. Jules -XoXo_

_Tears made their way into her eyes and she shut the phone angrily before standing up. Her head started to spin just as Puck walked into the room. _

_"What are you doing up, you shouldn't; You need your rest." he said as he placed his hands onto her upper arms to lead her back down on the bed. _

_"Don't touch me," Quinn spat out angrily, brushing his hands off her. "Where were you the night I got into the accident?" _

_"I was at the hospital, you know that." _

_"Before that," Quinn said. "Where were you when I called you?" _

_"I was at a party." _

_"D-did you cheat on me?" she asked, her voice trembling. _

_"I-I," _

_She took his phone and scrolled down his inbox. She showed him the message from Jules. "Was she good?" _

_"Quinn," _

_Her hand rose and collided with his cheek, a loud thud echoing in the room. "Get out." _

_"Quinn," _

_"Get the fuck out of here."_

-0-

Quinn's eyes opened the morning after she went to the police station. The fight with Puck from the day before kept replaying in her head, bringing back fresh memories. She sighed and wrapped the covers tighter around herself_. _When she was just starting to fall back into a deep slumber, the door opened and Rachel stepped inside the room, calling her name.

"Quinn," the brunette said as she walked to the bed. "Wake up."

"What's going on?" Quinn asked as she rolled onto her back.

"Beth fell down while she was on her bike with Finn and her wrist really hurts."

Quinn shot up in her bed and immediately stood. "Is it broken?"

"We don't know. I don't think so but we should take her to the hospital."

Quinn laid her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. "Yeah. Let me get ready and we'll go."

"Should I call Puck?" Rachel asked, somehow anxious.

"Of course, Beth is his daughter, why shouldn't you call him?"

"I don't know, because the last time the two of you were at the hospital it..."

"Just call him." Quinn said, then walked to the bathroom and locked the door behind her, heaving a deep breath. When she got downstairs, Puck was already there, sat on the couch with Beth in his lap. She looked at Beth sadly and kissed her forehead. "Oh, sweetie...You want to have a cast like me don't you?" she said, trying to make Beth smile. It worked, and Beth giggled before asking to be held by Quinn. "Let's go."

When Puck and Quinn got to the hospital, both of them felt a ping to their heart. It was there that their relationship had begun to crumble. It was there that Puck had screwed up.

Quinn took her purse and walked out of the car before opening the passenger door and scooping Beth up into her arms. Puck followed after them, walking through the French doors at the entrance of the hospital. Quinn got to the desk and asked for a doctor, filled a chart and the three of them waited for a doctor to come take care of Beth.

Once they were in the room and that Beth had had her x-ray taken, Quinn looked around the room and drew out a breath as memories filled her mind. Puck's gaze met hers and they both looked down before it got too awkward. When the doctor came in and told them that it was indeed fractured, Puck got Beth onto his lap when the doctor put the cast on once Beth had chosen which color she wanted.

"You are very brave Beth," Puck whispered into his daughter's ear as the little girl cried in pain. Quinn felt tears in her eyes and she couldn't bear to see her daughter in pain. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like if Tyler hurt her.

Once the cast was on and the doctor had prescribed some pain killers, the family was out of the hospital. Quinn smiled as Beth put their cast next to one another. "Look momma, we are alike!"

"Cool, huh?" Quinn said with a chuckle. Beth nodded and yawned lightly. Puck reached for her from behind and placed her onto his shoulders, the seven-year-old giggling loudly.

"Daddy! Put me down!"Puck laughed and place her back on the ground before putting her in her booster. "Where are going now?"

"We're going home. You, missy, need some sleep," he said as he pinched her nose. Meanwhile, Quinn got in the front seat and checked her phone.

"Is momma coming too?" Beth asked, her eyes sparkling in hope. Puck looked to Quinn as he got into the driver's seat.

"No, I need to take care of some things." she said quietly before looking down, missing the look of disappointment on Beth's face. "Can you drop me at my house?"

Puck's eyebrows furrowed. "At your house?"

"Yes, I need to take some stuff there."

"Nuh-huh, I'm not letting you go back there alone."

"Puck! I'm an adult, I can do whatever I want." Quinn shouted stubbornly.

"Not when it's not safe," Puck replied. "I'll go with you another day."

"You know what?" Quinn said as she opened her car door. "Forget about it." She started to walk away from the car and Puck sighed.

"Quinn! Get back in the car." She ignored him and walked away, leaving Puck to curse under his breath.

-0-

After reaching in her purse, Quinn pulled out her key. She slid it into the slot and, with a deep breath, pushed the door opened. After checking every room and making sure that Tyler wasn't there, she went up to her bedroom and pulled out a suitcase from under the bed. She grabbed Beth's photos and emptied her clothes' drawer. She grabbed her make-up case from under the sink and zipped her suit case before going downstairs, barely stopping at the top to regain her breath, too scared of the memories that would be brought back to her mind if she did.

When she got in front of the front door, it opened and Tyler stepped in. She swallowed and felt her heart begin to race.

"Well, well," he said, eying her up and down. "I see you've come to your senses."

"No." Quinn spoke firmly. "I was just getting some stuff."

Tyler scoffed and dropped his car keys on the table. "Quinn, Quinn, Quinn. You are nothing without me, remember?"

"It's not true. I have people that love me. Especially Puck."

"He told you that? He's lying. Now, I'm the only one that will ever love you Quinn. I'm your soul mate. We can take Beth for a trip the next few days, go to the sun." He stood on the doorway, keeping her from leaving.

"Get off the door, please?" She said, and Tyler only laughed to her face. "If you don't I'll call the police. I swear I will."

"Not if you are dead by then," Tyler said, clenching his teeth. Quinn shook her head but didn't walk backwards.

"You won't. You love me too much."

"Try me," Tyler sneered and this time she took a few steps back until her back hit the wall. He walked to her, then grabbed her arm. "See? I'm still the one who decides."

She pulled the hand she had behind her back out and pressed on the button. The spray emitted from the pepper spray container and into Tyler's eyes. He cried out in pain and his grip on her loosened.

"You bitch!" he cursed as he rubbed his eyes. Quinn lifted her suit case and ran out of the house before going into the street and taking off toward the nearest main road where she was able to hail a cab.

-0-

Rachel had bitten every nail of her right hand and starting the ones on her left hand when Quinn stepped through the door. She breathed out in relief and rushed to her friend.

"Thank God you are here. We were worried sick." Rachel said as she hugged Quinn. "Where the hell were you?"

"I stopped by my house to get some stuff," she mentioned down to her suitcase sitting at her feet. "Tyler is at work at this hour so he wasn't there."

"At least call the next time you wander off."

"Okay," Quinn said softly, then eyes Rachel's dress. "Why are you all dressed up?"

"Hum, Finn and I were going to go out. But if you want us to stay here we can, if you are not comfortable with being alone yet."

Quinn waved her hand off. "No, it's fine. I'll just lock the door behind me." She said, but she was still unsure about being alone in the big house, especially after Tyler's threats.

"Okay. Call us if you need anything." Rachel said, hugging Quinn.

Finn smiled at Quinn and kissed her cheek before following Rachel out of the house. Once they were gone, she locked the door behind her and checked three times that it was correctly locked. Afterwards, she decided that a nice and warm bath would be good for her and her sore body. After pouring the water in the tub, she untied her robe and let it fall from her shoulders. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed.

Her bruises were starting to fade off but her eyes were still empty and she was just skin and bones. Shaking her head and pulling the bad thoughts from her minds, she slipped into the warm water and let out a content sigh. Just when she starting to relax, she heard a creak.

Lifting her head from the towel she had folded to put it as a pillow, her brows knitted together as she tried to listen to the noises from down the stairs. Then she heard a door slam and footsteps echoed into the house. Swallowing hard, she got out of the tub and, with trembling hands tied her robe around her body. She then grabbed her phone and quickly dialed Rachel's number.

"Hello?" Rachel asked as she picked up. "Quinn?" she shared a worried look with Finn as she spoke again. "Is everything okay?"

"Please come home," Quinn choked into the phone, tears falling down her cheeks as she sat on the floor. "Please."

"Don't panic, alright? We'll be there in a few minutes. Stay on the phone with me," Rachel then looked at her husband. "Turn the car 'round, quick."

"Please hurry,"

* * *

I'm evil, aren't I? Haha, review to find out what happens next!

Merci ! :)


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for your amazing reviews on the last chapter, they really mean a lot.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Can you hear me Quinn?" Rachel asked as Finn sped up on the main road. They were only a few miles from their house but it seemed way longer than usual. Rachel was gripping Finn's hand tightly and Finn was concentrating on the road but on the phone conversation as well.

"Y-yes." was Quinn's weak response.

"Good. We're almost there honey. Hang in there, alright?" Rachel said, swallowing as Finn turned into their street. "Where are you in the house?"

"U-upstairs, in the b-bathroom," Quinn answered. The footsteps got nearer and she could hear her heartbeat thumping in her ears. "He's getting closer, please come home." she sobbed into the phone, drawing her knees to her chest and burying her face into them.

"We are driving up the street now, calm down Quinn, we're almost there," Rachel soothed, trying to remain calm herself. As soon as Finn hit the brakes in front of their house, they both got out and ran up the path. "We're walking up the path now. You are okay Quinn."

"The handle is moving; Please hurry Rachel."

"Shh, Quinn, we're here, in a few seconds you'll be safe."

"There's no car Rach," Finn told his wife, his gaze traveling to the driveway. Rachel tried to open the door but it was still locked. She pulled out her key and walked in once she had unlocked the door.

"Maybe he came by foot. You check the house, I'll take care of Quinn." Finn nodded and started to look around as Rachel ran up the stairs as quickly as she could in her high heels. After checking Quinn's bedroom, she knocked onto the bathroom's door. "Quinn, sweetie, it's me, Rachel. Open up."

"He's in the house, I heard him!" Quinn cried out, not leaving her spot from the floor. Rachel bit on her lower lip as Finn walked into the room. He shook his head as he stood next to his wife.

"The house is clear," he said. Rachel sighed and laid her hand onto her forehead, shaking her head.

"She won't open the door. She's persuaded that he is somewhere in the house. I don't know what to do Finn." Rachel whispered. Finn sighed and rubbed her back soothingly.

"I can get the door open with some scissors."

"Quinn, open the door please," Rachel pleaded and soon Finn was walking back into the room with a pair of scissors in his hand. He quickly worked on the lock and got it open. Rachel pushed the door ajar and popped her hand into the bathroom. Quinn was huddled in the corner near the tub, her arms wrapped around her body, as if to shield herself from something or someone. "Quinn," she said as she slowly took a few steps to the blonde.

"He was here." Quinn mumbled, not moving an inch as Rachel sat next to her. "I swear I heard him."

"I know," Rachel whispered as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Quinn. "I believe you. But he's not here anymore. You are safe now."

"I was so scared...H-he slammed the front door, I h-heard it. And then I-I called you and I could hear his breathing right ou-tside the bathroom. He was ready, he-he was waiting for me to come out." she choked out as Rachel drew soothing circles on her back. She looked at the tub and dipped her hand into the water, noting that it was still very warm.

"Why don't you take your bath and then I'll make you something to eat, all right?"

Quinn nodded her head and Rachel kissed her on the forehead before leaving the room, assuring Quinn that her and Finn weren't soon as the door closed, Quinn gathered herself up and shakily grabbed the orange bottle hid under the sink. She opened the lid and popped four pills into her hands before swallowing them. She knew it was more than the amount recommended on the label but she felt better after taking that many. She then lost her robe and slipped into the still warm water, closing her eyes and trying to relax as she began to feel the effect of the pills on her body.

Meanwhile, the brunette climbed down the stairs and walked to the kitchen where her husband had started to make dinner. She leaned against the counter and buried her face into her hands as she heaved a long sigh.

"How is she?" Finn asked as he turned around to face her. Rachel shrugged her shoulders and snuggled into her husband's embrace.

"She's taking a bath right now but she's persuaded that he was here," she said, then looked up to Finn. "You checked everywhere?"

"Every single room. Maybe he got away before we arrived."

"Nuh-huh, it's not possible. Quinn told me she was hearing him when we were walking up to the house. He couldn't have gone away that fast."

"Well there's no sign of breaking in and the door was locked when we got here," Finn said. Rachel looked at him worriedly and heaved a sigh. "You think she is hallucinating?"

"I don't know, Finn," Rachel said, "She is still in shock, so maybe. But I hope not. You think she'll pull through?"

"Yeah, she will. Quinn is a strong woman and for Beth, she would pull through anything." Finn assured Rachel. She looked at him sceptically and shook her head.

"But I don't think she'll ever be able to trust men again," she murmured as Finn stroked her hair. "It breaks my heart for Puck. And Beth was so looking forward to have them back together."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." Rachel drew out. "The other day she cried when I was putting her to bed, telling me that she wanted a family and she loved it better when Puck and Quinn were together and that she loved when Puck made Quinn laugh. It took me an hour to calm her down. She isn't understanding what's going on right now. So I told her about Tyler and how her mom was broken and she was so sad for Quinn. She wants to have a family again."

"Maybe it will happen someday. If Puck is patient enough."

-0-

_"No!" Quinn shouted as she felt him grab her ankle when she tried to crawl away. "Let go!"_

_"You little slut," Tyler sneered as he pulled her back to him. "You ain't going anywhere." he turned her around so she was facing him and hovered her body._

_"Tyler," Quinn whimpered. "Stop it, please." she cried out as he slowly started to unbutton her shirt. _

_"Shh," he said into her ear. "Do as I say and it won't hurt." Quinn closed her eyes, letting a few tears escape, and drew out several long breaths as she felt him place kisses down her body. _

"Stop it!" Quinn yelled as she kicked and moved harshly in her bed. Her whole body was covered in sweat and she was was shaking. Rachel rushed into the room, completely panicked, Finn following close to her. She knelt next to the bed and placed her hand onto Quinn's leg. "Get off me!"

"Quinn," Rachel said softly as she sat on the side of the bed. She placed her hands on Quinn's upper arms and lightly shook her. "Wake up."

"Let go of me!" Quinn screamed and started to sob.

"Quinn!" Rachel shouted, trying to shake Quinn awake once again. Suddenly, Quinn's eyes shot opened and she sat up in her bed. Disoriented at first, she looked around the room as she panted, trying to regain her breath. Finn walked to the doorway and switched the light on. "Everything is alright, it was just a bad dream." Rachel soothed as he caressed Quinn's cheek with her hand.

"I'm sorry," Quinn mumbled under her breath as she swept the back of her hand across her forehead. "For waking you up."

"It doesn't matter," The brunette said as she racked her fingers through Quinn's blonde hair. "Do you want to tell me about your nightmare?"

"No. It was nothing...Just a sort of memory." Quinn answered, breathing deeply. "The door is locked, right?"

"Yes, Finn checked twice." Rachel assured Quinn. Quinn looked at Finn who nodded his head. Noticing Quinn's fear of being alone, Rachel asked, "Do you want me to stay here until you fall asleep?"

Rachel then settled herself under the covers and wrapped her arms around her friend as Quinn snuggled closer to rest her head onto her best friend's shoulder. Rachel ran her hand up and down Quinn's back in a soothing way until she heard Quinn's breathing deepen.

-0-

Two days after, when Quinn got out of the shower, she put her robe around her and fished into her shopping back from the day before. She and Rachel had gone to the mall, as Quinn needed some new clothes. She pulled out some jeans and a gray top. But before she put them on, she pulled out a hair color lotion. She had decided to take a new start, new clothes, new hair color, decided to leave the old Quinn behind.

Half an hour later, after she had dyed her hair and put her new clothes on, she soothed them with her hands and for the first time in days, a real, not forced smile appeared onto her lips. She reached inside her coat pocket and took out the bottle of antidepressants she had been prescribed after her miscarriage. She dropped five pills into the palm of her hand and swallowed them.

When she got downstairs, Beth was watching cartoons on the couch, her fluffy horse tucked under her elbow as she sucked on her thumb. Quinn bent over the back of the couch and kissed Beth nose before ruffling her hair.

"Momma!" Beth exclaimed, turning around. "It took Aunt Rachel forever to brush my hair right," she then gasped when she looked at her mom correctly. "What happened to yours?"

"I dyed it. Do you like it?" Quinn asked as she racked her fingers through her light brown locks.

"Yup! I love it." Beth said. She stood on the couch and wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck. "I'm sure daddy's gonna love it!"

Before Quinn could question her daughter about what she had just said, Beth's eyes were already glued back to the screen, watching as Woody Woodpecker desperately tried to open a bottle of soda. Quinn kissed her daughter's head and walked to the kitchen. She didn't expect Puck to be there, talking with Finn. She stopped in her tracks when she met his gaze.

"Puck," she acknowledged, brushing her bang out of her eyes. "Hi."

"Er, Hi." he replied, his eyes not leaving her face. "You dyed your hair." he stated.

"Yes, I needed some change." she said as she walked to the coffee pot, brushing Finn's shoulder with her hand on the way there, mouthing a good morning.

"It's nice." Puck said with a smile before he took a sip of his coffee. Quinn poured her own and turned around.

"Thanks."

"Daddy," Beth called as she ran into the room and jumped onto Puck's lap. "How do you like Momma's hair?" she asked, her big hazel eyes gazing up at him. Puck chuckled and kissed his daughter's nose.

"I think she looks very beautiful with her brown hair." he murmured, looking up to Quinn who smiled slightly. Beth beamed with happiness as she clapped her hands together as best as she could with her cast on.

"See, momma? I told you!" She exclaimed. "Uncle Finn! Can we do the plane thing?" Finn laughed at his goddaughter's excitement and stood, scooping her up before running around the house with Beth up on his shoulders. Quinn sat in front of Puck at the table and an awkward silence filled the room until Puck's voice broke it,

"I'm sorry about the other day in the bathroom...I was out of line."

"No," Quinn shook her head. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have rehashed the past like I did."

"I meant what I said a few days ago, Quinn," Puck said as he covered her hand with his own. "I'm going to protect you and to be there for you. I know you don't trust me yet but I can be patient. We could start over, take it slow. I still love you Quinn, I've never stopped."

Quinn looked up to the ceiling to hold the tears that had filled her eyes from falling. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust men again one day Puck. I want to start over first on my own and then we'll see."

"I doesn't matter how long it takes," Puck said, squeezing her hand. "I'll wait for you."

* * *

Sorry, bit of a short chapter but I wanted to finish on this line. Wanna see what happens next? Click the little button!

Merci ! :)


	11. Chapter 11

Quinn woke up the morning after and she felt good. Like really good. She didn't know what was in those pills but they were doing wonders with her body and her state of mind. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head before checking her phone. It was already ten o'clock and she should really think about getting up.

When she did, she directly walked to the bathroom and took out the bottle of anti-depressant she had placed next to her toothbrush. She popped three pills into her palm and swallowed them. Afterwards, she bounced down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the couple that had housed her in were having breakfast.

"Morning," Quinn greeted with a small smile as she walked to the coffee pot and poured herself some coffee in her mug.

"Morning sunshine," Rachel said as Quinn sat down on one of the chairs. "You look good," Rachel complimented though she still had some troubles adjusting to Quinn's new hair color.

"Thanks," Quinn said, her hands enveloping her mug to keep them warm.

"Er, Quinn?" Rachel said after casting a glance to Finn. "Finn and I have to go to New York in two days...I need to go to the Broadway show..."

"And I have an important game in five days, need to train." Finn finished for his wife before looking at Quinn. "So we'll be gone for a least a week."

"Oh," Quinn murmured, not knowing what else she could say. "I guess I'll go to the hotel then."

"Don't be stupid," Rachel said as she squeezed Quinn's hands. "Puck will come here for the week. With Beth, there's enough rooms up there."

"I don't want to bother him." Quinn said, fidgeting with her mug nervously.

"It doesn't bother him, we've already asked him the other day." Finn assured her. Quinn looked down at her mug and didn't say anything, getting lost in her thoughts and memories.

_"Ma!" a three-year old Beth exclaimed from her high chair as Quinn mashed her bananas with a fork. Quinn turned around and smiled down at her daughter. _

_"One second missy." Quinn said softly. She placed the plate on the tray in front of Beth and the little girl hungrily ate all her bananas in a minute. She got her appetite from Puck, Quinn often said. Quinn dropped a kiss on her daughter's head and got back to the counter to pour herself some coffee. She felt arms wrap around her slim waist and Puck's hot breath near her ear. _

_"Morning, beautiful," he said, placing a kiss on her neck. _

_"Hi," Quinn said with a smile as she turned around and pecked his lips. _

_"Dada, dada, dada," Beth repeatedly said, slamming her spoon on the tray as if to get her parent's attention. Puck laughed and walked to Beth, scooping her up into his arms. He blew a raspberry kiss on her neck and the toddler erupted into a fit of giggles. _

_"How's my other favorite girl this morning?" he asked as he slightly tickled her stomach. _

_Quinn shook her head at his goofy face, thinking that having Beth had changed Puck's personality._

-0-

The next day, Quinn was working on her computer in Rachel and Finn's living room when Beth and Puck walked through the door. Setting her computer aside after shutting it, she stood and smiled down at Beth, scooping her up into her arms. She then placed her down and looked up at Puck who now stood in front of her. He leaned in and kissed her cheek swiftly, his hands brushing against her shoulder.

"So, looks like we're going to be roommates for a week." he said, a slight smirk spreading over his lips. Quinn nodded her head and ran her hand through her brown locks.

"Look Puck," She began. "If that bothers you I can go to the hotel. I'll be safe there."

"Bullshit," he said. "You ain't gonna pay a hotel when you have this big house for yourself. And Beth has been ecstatic since I told her that we are going to spend a whole week with you."

"That's true momma," Beth piped in. "It's gonna be so cool."

"Alright then," Quinn said, ruffling her daughter's hair. "What do you wanna do today Bug?"

"Swimming!" Beth exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh, honey. You'll have to wait until your cast comes off to do that."

"Until when?" Beth asked, disappointed.

"Two weeks."

"When do you take yours off?"

"In a few days." Quinn couldn't wait to take it off, the cast being a reminder of her 'past'. "I need to drive Aunt Rachel and Uncle Finn to the airport later, wanna come with me to tell goodbye?"

"Yup! Where are they?" Beth asked

"In their bedroom, making their suitcase. I think aunt Rachel is making uncle Finn crazy for checking several times that he hasn't forgotten anything." Puck rolled his eyes and, as if on cue, Finn and Rachel emerged at the top of the stairs, their hands full of suitcases. Puck climbed up the stairs and took them from Rachel.

"Okay, we are ready. We should probably get going." Rachel said as Puck set her suitcases down. Quinn grabbed her keys from the table and looked at Puck.

"Are you coming or are you staying here?" she asked him.

"I'm gonna stay, get my stuff settled."

"Okay. See you later then." Quinn said and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel staring at them intently. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Beth's hand and walked out the door, followed by the brunette couple.

-0-

Rachel and Finn's plane was called and the brunette turned to her best friend. "I'll see you in a week," She engulfed Quinn in a hug and whispered, "Take good care of yourself, Okay? And don't fool around too much with Puck." she added with a wink, causing Quinn to laugh. Finn then wrapped his arms around Quinn, sweeping her off her feet in a bear hug as Rachel crouched down to Beth's level.

"You take very good care of your mommy for me, okay?" she said as she tapped Beth's nose with her finger. The blonde little girl nodded her head and kissed Rachel's cheek.

"Yup. Bye Aunt Rachel."

"Love you munchkin." she said as she gently wrapped her arms around Beth. She stood and hugged Quinn one last time. "I love you."

"Love you too," Quinn whispered back. "Enjoy your time in New York. And Finn, we'll be supporting you from your living room."

"Sure thing Fabray." Finn took Rachel's hands into his and the couple waved at the two girls before stepping through the gate.

"What do you want to do Beth? Wanna get some ice cream?"

"Can we?"

"Sure we can."

"Sweet!" Beth shouted, drawing every eye in the airport to her. Quinn laughed and lifted her up, rubbing their noses together. "Momma?"

"Yes?" Quinn asked as they walked through the airport main entrance.

"Can we watch a movie with daddy tonight? With pop corn and everything?" Beth asked, resting her hand on Quinn's shoulder.

"Yeah, seems like a good idea."

"You know what daddy told me yesterday?" Beth said, gazing up at Quinn.

"No, what did he tell you?"

"I asked him who did he think that was the prettiest girl in the world and he said that it was you. And then he said that I am also the prettiest girl in the world because I have both your genes. He said you are very pretty momma."

"That's very nice of him but why would you tell me that?"

" 'Cause aunt Rachel said that it could help to get you two back together," Beth said, and right after she had, her eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hands. "Ooops. I wasn't suppose to say that."

Quinn chuckled. "It's fine baby. But your dad and I are not going to be together. Not soon at least. So don't get your hopes up."

"Aunt Rachel said that daddy hurt you real bad when I was still little. It that true?"

Quinn nodded her head. "Yes. But it's all in the past now."

"Did it hurt you like Tyler did?" Beth asked innocently and Quinn wondered how she had learned about that.

"No, he didn't. Come on, let's get some ice cream." she said, hoping that would be enough to change the subject. Beth completely forgot about it, and got excited on which flavor she was going to get, however, Quinn was going to have a little chat with Puck once they got home.

-0-

Quinn and Beth walked through the door at seven o'clock the following evening, arms full of groceries bags since Quinn wanted to cook something nice for Puck and had her grocery back ready to fall and she shouted for her dad to come.

"Daddy! Hurry it's heavy!" Puck walked into the living room and laughed at the sight before him.

"Woah, that's heavy," he said as he took the bag from Beth and the one Quinn was carrying as well. "How did you manage to make it all the way here?"

"I'm strong dad!" Beth said as she rolled up her sleeves and showed him her biceps.

"That you are," Puck said with a chuckle as he put the groceries back onto the table and began to unload them with the help of Quinn. "Did Rachel and Finn take off?"

"Yeah." Quinn answered briefly. Puck furrowed his eyebrows as he placed the eggs into the fridge.

"You OK?" he asked, seeing as Quinn was a bit off.

"I'm fine," she said, not bothering to look at him. "Do you want to watch some cartoons baby?" she asked Beth who had sat herself on one of the kitchen's chairs. She nodded and got off the chair, running back into the living room. Quinn waited until she heard the sound of the TV before speaking,

"Did you tell Beth about Tyler?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip. Puck's head shook as he spoke,

"No, I didn't. Why?"

"She asked me today if you hurt me in the past like Tyler did. Rachel must have told her," she said, heaving loudly. She placed her hand on her forehead and sat down on a chair.

"Is it...a bad thing?"he asked as he finished unloading the bags.

"Yes!" Quinn almost shouted. "I don't want her to know that I suffered or whatever. I don't want her to feel unsafe or scared that he's going to come back." she said. She stood harshly and reached into her purse that laid on the counter. She took out the orange bottle and popped two pills. Puck watched on, getting confused.

"What's that you are taking?" he asked, standing up as well.

Quinn swallowed the two pills and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It's pain killers. My back hurts with the fall so I take some once in a while."

"Oh," Puck said. He then snatched the bottle out of her hands and read the label. "What the fuck Quinn, those aren't pain killers, they are anti depressants!"

"Give them back Puck," Quinn cried out as she tried to take the bottle back. He took off the lid and emptied the bottle's content into his palm. To his surprise, only three pills fell off.

"How many did you take?"

"Puck, stop it!" He read the label and his eyes widened.

"30? Quinn they were thirty pills in that bottle, when did you start taking them?"

Quinn sighed and closed her eyes. "Three days ago."

"Three days ago? That's why you seemed so fine all of the sudden. Damn it Quinn, these things are drugs. You are going to screw yourself up if you keep going!"

"Who cares?" Quinn shouted. "Who cares! I'm nothing, I'm broken and I can't even do one thing right! Tyler is right, I'm nothing without him."

"Stop..." Puck said.

"It's the truth! I don't have a job, I'm nothing. I take advantage of my rich friends and their big house! Just go away, you have better to do than to protect a loser like me!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Puck yelled and Quinn jumped in fear. She took a few steps back, her back hitting the closed the distance between them and gently laid his hand onto her cheek, his thumb slightly grazing her pale skin. "You are an amazing person Quinn. You're beautiful and full of qualities, you don't even realize it. And that motherfucker, had I only listened to myself, I would have already beaten the shit out of him. You used to be self confident, kind of bitchy, strong woman. Did he take her away from us? Where is that girl now? She ain't in front of me, that's for sure. The Quinn I used to know would not be sinking underneath a ton of anti depressants. You are allowed to be weak but don't go hide your emotions and keep it all in with shit like anti depressants. Get it right Quinn. For your friends, for me, for Beth and especially for _you_. Because I'm sure you would like to see the old Quinn back too. Don't let him win Quinn, that's all he's looking for."

"You think that's easy?" Quinn said, looking up at him with tears filled eyes. "Do you think I don't want that Quinn back too? I'm trying Puck, so hard but I don't see the end of the tunnel."

"That's why you can count on me. I'm going to help you Quinn but you have to let me in. I can't do it otherwise. Please?" he said as he extended his hand toward her. She slid her hand into his and closed her eyes, a few tears escaping from them. He caught them with his thumb and pressed his lips to the apple of her cheek. She leaned against his touch and he gently brought his hand on the back of her neck.

_"Sweetheart," Tyler's voice rang in her ears as Quinn was doing laundry. "I love you." his hand came on her hip and he pressed himself against her as he brought his hand to brush a few fallen curls from the back of her neck. _

_Quinn's hands shook and she swallowed. "I-I love you too." she escaped him then, walking toward the stairs. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, his arms wrapping around her. He kissed her swiftly and brought his hand on the back of her neck to deepen the kiss. _

Quinn took several long breaths and leaned against Puck's chest, finally letting her emotions show as she broke down into sobs.

-0-

Quinn had insisted to make dinner once she had calmed down. Puck had agreed, telling her that he was going to play a game with Beth. When dinner was ready, she laid the table in the dinner room and then called them. They both sat down as Quinn came back from the kitchen with a dish in her hands. She placed it at the center of the table and Puck cleared his throat.

"Erm, Quinn?" he called, his eyes staring at what was in the dish.

"What?" Quinn asked as she began to cut the meat.

"Is that pork?" he asked, and watched as Quinn's eyes widened.

"Oh my God," she said, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think...I'm so sorry."

_"Honey," Tyler's voice rang through Quinn's ears as she began to cut the meat. She looked up at him expectantly. "Didn't I tell you that I wanted pork and not beef?" _

_"Tyler...I didn't remember, I'm sorry." she said. _

_"You are really dumb, aren't you. Are you that incapable of doing anything right?" he shouted as he stood and threw his napkin on the table. He pushed the dish from the table violently and it fell off, shattering on the tile floor. Quinn jumped and closed her eyes. The back of his hand collided with her cheek and he then pushed her to the floor, his feet kicking her in the ribs. "Clean this shit up." _

"Quinn," Puck called, snapping Quinn out of her daze. "It's no big deal. I'll order something."

"No! I can make you something else," she walked back to the kitchen in a rush and Puck slowly stood, kissed Beth on the forehead and asked her to stay on her chair while he talked to her mother. He then stepped into the kitchen where Quinn stood, above the sink, her head buried in her shaking hands.

"Quinn," Puck whispered as he laid his hand upon his shoulder and gently squeezed it.

"I'm so sorry Puck, I didn't think." she said, her voice trembling.

"It doesn't matter," she started to cry and he panicked, he wasn't usually very good with crying. "Hey, hey." he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on her head as she turned around. "It's fine."

"Why aren't you punishing me?" she asked, her voice shaking as she looked up to him. Puck's eyes widened as he realized to what extend hers and Tyler's relationship had gone cupped her face with his hands and softly said,

"Are you crazy? The last thing that would come to my mind if hit you because you mess up with dinner. I will never ever hurt you Quinn, at least physically. No one ever will. The one still hurting you is yourself. You need to heal. I know it's going to take some time but I'm for you."

A sob escaped Quinn's mouth. "Help me Puck," she whispered. "I need help to get through this."

* * *

Review please!

Merci ! :)


	12. Chapter 12

She felt his hand touch her hip. She gasped. He wasn't supposed to be there. He whispered words of love into her ear. They sounded fake, unreal, ironic. His casual fingers slipped under the material of her shirt and pressed into her hot skin just as he pinned her body onto the bed. He hovered her, his teeth biting her neck, as if to leave marks, as if to make sure everyone knew she was his.

His hands rose to her side and his right one covered her breast, his mouth leaving kisses all the way down her body. Her hands pushed against his chest, trying to get him off her. She whimpered when he squeezed her thigh and his laugh made its way up to her ears. She felt sick, she wanted to throw up, she needed to get out of here.

Yet again, she pushed against him and kicked her legs, only to be slapped across the cheek.

"Stop..." she said as she watched him unbutton her jeans. "Please."

"Quinn," he said loudly. She kicked her legs again and cried out. "Quinn! Wake up!"

Quinn gasped as she opened her eyes, jerking out of sleep. Puck was sitting next to her on the bed, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes full of concern. She panted, trying to regain her breath as she swept the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Suddenly, she felt the bile rise from her stomach and pushed past Puck, ran to the bathroom and threw up into the toilet. She felt his hands graze her back and her hair being lifted up as she dried heaved.

When the vomiting was over, she leaned back against the wall, out of strength and breath. Puck flushed the toilets and then scooped her up, one of his arms below her shoulder blades and the other underneath her knees. He laid her down on the bed and pulled back the covers, then grabbed the glass she had on her bedside table and walked back into the bathroom. He came back a few seconds later with some water that she gladly took.

He placed his hand on her knee as his other hand brushed the hair out of her face, "Want to tell me what happened?"

Quinn leaned back against her pillows, "Just a nightmare. Memories."

"Alright," Puck said, not wanting to push it. "Do you think you can go back to sleep or do you want me to stay here for a bit?"

"Don't take this as an invitation of any sort but...Do you think you could sleep in here with me?" she asked, biting down on her lower lip. He didn't smirk like she thought he would. He simply nodded his head and smiled.

"Sure. Scoot over," he said and slipped under the covers next to her. She settled herself against him and rested her head on his chest as his arm manually came around her slim frame. He kissed her forehead and rested his chin on top of her head.

"Good night." he whispered and stroke her arm until he heard his breath go even.

-0-

The following morning, Puck woke up when the light of the sun that was passing through the blinds lightened the room. He opened his eyes and lowered them to see Quinn still sound asleep. He yawned and decided that a few more minutes of sleep would be so bad. He had just closed his eyes when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said, and to his expectation, saw his daughter in the doorway once she had pushed the door open. "What are you doing here?"

Beth didn't say anything as she padded bare feet across the room, her thumb in her mouth and her fluffed horse tucked underneath her arm. She climbed on bed not so gently and Quinn stirred before opening her eyes.

"Morning," she said sleepily. "What's going on?"

Beth kissed her cheek and settled between her parents without saying anything and got under the covers. Puck shrugged and Quinn let out a small laugh before kissing her daughter on the forehead.

_"Do you think she's going to stay in her room?" Quinn asked as Puck joined her back into bed. He wrapped his arm around her middle and shrugged before kissing her. _

_"I dunno. I checked under her bed that there was no monsters or such thing but she didn't look so confident." He said. Quinn laughed and snuggled closer to his body. A few minutes later indeed, their bedroom door was being pushed opened and Beth popped her head in. She waited on the doorway until her father waved her over. "Come here munchkin." _

_Beth padded across the room and Puck scooped her up, settling her between he and Quinn. He sighed and looked at Beth. "This is the last time, you need to be a big girl now."He told her that but Quinn was sure that if Beth came again one night in their room, he wouldn't say no to her.  
_

_"Promise daddy." the three-year-old said. "Wub you." _

_"Yeah, I love you too," he said as he dropped a kiss to her blonde hair. He wrapped his arm around both his girls and pecked Quinn's lips. "I love you." _

_"I love you too." Quinn smiled and closed her eyes; it felt good to be a family. _

Quinn snapped out of her daze and shook her head, bringing the memories out of her mind. Puck had already fallen asleep and his arm was draped over her middle. She brushed it off gently and tried not to wake him up as she got out of bed. They weren't a family anymore, she couldn't let herself think that.

Walking into the bathroom, she decide that she was going to go for a run to clear her head. She put on some jogging pants and a large sweatshirt of Puck that she had kept after their break up. After pulling her brown hair into a ponytail, she slid into some running shoes, grabbed her iPod from the bedside table and took the pepper spray from her purse and slid it into the center pocket of her sweatshirt. She kissed Beth on the cheek and walked out of the room.

She started running once she was on the sidewalk alongside the suburbs houses. She put her ear buds on and chose a song that'd keep her motivated. When she got to the main road, she checked several times that nobody was following her and that she was safe. Her legs felt like mellow because she didn't have that much strength and because her body hadn't been able to keep in more than a yogurt. She was quickly out of breath and had to stop several times to catch some air. She ran along the suburbs of Lima for the next ten minutes until her head started to spin and she eventually stopped so she wouldn't faint.

Leaning against the mailbox of a random house, she rubbed her temples as she panted, black stains beginning to form around her.

"Quinn?" she heard her name being called a few meters from her and she lifted her head, looking towards the house. A slender redhead was walking to her and she immediately recognized her. "Oh my God, how long has it been?"

"Hi, Mrs. Pillsbury." Quinn said weakly.

"It's Schuester now but please, forget about the formalities, it's Emma," she said kindly, a smile forming on her lips. "Are you alright?"

"Not really, I worn myself out."

"Come on, let's go sit inside, I'll pour you some water," Emma said, waving her in. Quinn couldn't refuse now, because if she didn't have some water or food anytime soon, she wouldn't make it home.

"Okay," she followed Emma inside the house and her eyes went wide at the beautiful interior before her. The front door directed to a vast kitchen giving to a bright living room witch walls were a soft beige. Emma led her to the couch and placed a glass of water on the coffee table in front of her.

"Em, have you seen my blue jacket? I can't-" William Schuester said as he entered the room but stopped in his tracks when he saw who was sat next to his wife. "Quinn, hello."

"Hi Mr. Schue," Quinn said with a small smile.

"Woah, that's a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Quinn was running in the neighborhood and I caught sight of her so I invited her in." Emma said. "And your blue jacket is at the top of the closet."

"Thanks. I wish I could stay and chat with you but I have a class in half an hour. But we could invite you and Puck for dinner some night in order to catch up with everything."

"Um...Sure, I live with Finn and Rachel now, Puck and I aren't together anymore, but we're still friends so yeah, that would be nice."

"Well, that's settled. Oh, and tell Finn and Rachel to come too. And bring the mini you, I can't wait to see the future star of Glee club." William said with a smile. Quinn nodded her head. William kissed Emma goodbye and waved at Quinn before leaving the house.

"I'm sorry Emma but I should go, but we'll be there for the dinner. Here's my number," Quinn said as she wrote it down on the nearest piece of paper. "Call me when you have a date."

"Sure thing," Emma said. "Do you want me to drive you back to your place or something? You look a little pale."

"No that's fine, I'll just walk, I'm not too far from there," Quinn said and stood, kissing Emma on the cheek before walking out of the house. Emma tough, couldn't help but notice how thin Quinn had gotten.

Ten minutes later, Beth stirred and woke up, ready to nestle back into her mother's arms. However, when she found nothing on her side, she nudged her father awake. "Daddy, wake up."

"What, baby?" Puck asked groggily as he rubbed his eyes.

"Momma's gone!"

"She's probably downstairs," Puck said softly, trying not to worry his daughter, even though he was panicking in the inside. What if she was really gone?

He got up from bed and took Beth's little hand into his and they both walked out of the bedroom. "Quinn?" he called out before going down stairs. "Quinn?" he called again, a little louder this time. "Shit."

"What's going on?" Beth asked. "Why is momma not here?"

"She, she must have gone shopping or something," he said as he shuffled through the kitchen, desperatly trying to find a note that said, 'Gone to the mall' or 'Gone to the grocery shop sown the street' but no, he didn't find anything.

"Are you OK daddy? Why are you worried?" Beth asked innocently, her big hazel eyes looking up at him.

"Nothing. I'm fine, nothing's wrong."

"Then where is momma?" Beth asked again and Puck ran a hand through his mohawk. He didn't really want to say anything to Beth that would worry her, he didn't really want to lie to her either. As if on cue, the front door opened and Beth and Puck walked across the living room to see who it was. Quinn was closing the door behind them when she spotted them, both standing there, as though they were waiting for her.

"Hey," she said, lightly smiling. Beth walked to her and asked to be lifted.

"Where were you momma? Daddy was worried." Beth said and Quinn rose an eyebrow. Puck sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I went for a run. I'm going to take a shower now," she kissed Beth's nose and her hand ruffled her blonde curls before she set her daughter down and climbed up the stairs. When she was pulling off her clothes in her bedroom, Puck walked in. "Excuse me, do you mind?"

Puck ignored her comment and shut the door behind him as Quinn took her robe and wrapped it around herself; clearly he wasn't going to leave any time soon.

"Do you even realize how worried I got?" he asked, throwing his hands up in the air. "Leaving a note, didn't that even cross your mind?"

"I just went for a run, Puck."

"Do you know what can happen in forty minutes? Damn it Quinn, he lives just a few streets away," Puck's tone softened as he closed the distance between them and cupped her face with his hands. "I can't lose you Quinn, do you understand that? I can't bear the sight of you being hurt, I can't stand it. Now I know I hurt you and I screwed up in the past but I promise I'll never do it again. I lost you once but I don't want to lose you ever again. I want to be with you Quinn. I want to be the one that protects you, that holds you when you break down, that makes you laugh. I want to be that guy for you again."

Quinn opened her mouth to say something, but it was as if her voice had died in her throat. Instead of speaking, she lifted herself on her tip toes and gently pressed her lips to his. Surprised at first, Puck didn't kiss her back. She pulled away and was ready to walk away when he grabbed her hand gently and pulled her back to him. Leaning down, he captured her lips into his and wrapped his arm around her waist, his thumb gently brushing over the apple of her cheek. He deepened the kiss and his lips moved perfectly with hers. They fit.

Quinn couldn't quite describe all the things hat were going on in her body right now.

Heartbeat quickening, butterflies in the stomach, chills, _love_.

Maybe she would see the light at the end of the tunnel after all.

* * *

Tada. On that note, I won't be able to update until Tuesday or Wednesday because I'm visiting my sister in the South or France and I'm not planning on writing all the week end, I don't even know if I'll have internet there. You'll just have to be a little bit patient.


	13. Chapter 13

When they pulled away, Quinn's eyes remained closed for a few seconds as she drew in a long breath. Puck smiled and brushed her bang out of her eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern. Quinn's eyes opened and she shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." she said, running a hand through her hair and pushing his away from her skin.

"Quinn,"

"No, I can't, it's just too hard, feeling your hands on me, listening to you and your words of love when I know that I can't trust you again. Not yet. I-I need to go," she brushed past him and ran down the stairs, followed by Puck.

"Quinn, stop, where are you going?" he asked, standing in front of the door, keeping her from leaving.

"Puck, move please."

"Not until you tell me where you are going." he said stubbornly. Quinn sighed and cursed under her breath. She looked down to her attire and figured that she couldn't go anywhere in just a robe. Glaring at him, she climbed up the stairs and locked the bathroom door before he could get any closer. She stood in front of the mirror, her fingers running over the large purple circles below her eyes hat had appeared from the lack of sleep. She was so tired that her legs could barely support her weight, and after her run, she was worn out of any strength.

Pulling off her robe, she turned the water on and waited until it was hot enough for her taste to step into the shower. As soon as the warm water hit her skin, she closed her eyes and leaned against the wall, her forehead pressing against the cool surface. She started to shake with sobs as she looked down to her body. She was way too thin and she felt used, ugly, unwanted. She slid down the wall of the shower and sat on the tile floor, letting the water stream down her petite figure. Drawing her knees to her chest as far as she could, she wrapped her arms around them and cried. Cried until her body couldn't produce any more tears.

When the water got cold, the turned it off and stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around herself and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't even recognize herself. Her cheeks were hollow, her eyes were empty and circled with purple marks, she had lost weight. She wanted the old Quinn back, not that ugly, used, skinny girl she was staring at.

Rage overtook sorrow and she grabbed the glass that stood on the sink and threw it into the mirror, glass shattering around her.

_Meanwhile_

"Beth," Puck called after almost tripping over one of Beth's toy that may around on the floor of the living room. "How many times did I tell you not to let your toys on the floor?" The little girl's eyes didn't budge and her eyes stayed glued to the screen. Puck groaned and grabbed the TV remote, switching the TV off.

"Dad!" Beth shouted, her brows knitting together.

"Tidy the mess you've made first and then you can watch TV. Friends are coming over tonight and the house needs to be clean." Beth sighed and hopped off the couch.

"Fine," she grumbled, starting to pick her toys up. "Where's momma?"

"Momma isn't feeling too well baby."

"Why?" Beth asked, looking up to Puck who sighed and crouched down to her level.

"Because she's been through a lot of stuff in the past months and she's hurt and broken. She's safe now but it's going to take a little while before she's completely healed."

"What if the bad man comes after her again?" Beth asked. Puck swallowed hard and lifted her up onto his lap.

"He isn't."

"How come?"

"Because that bad man is going to be in jail any time soon, when your mom is ready to testimony against him. Until then, I won't let anything happen to her or to you. I won't let anything hurt the two most important girls in the whole world, I promise."

"Who are the two most important persons in the world?" Beth asked innocently.

"You and your mom, silly."

"Does that mean that you love momma?"

"Yeah. I love her. Your mom has owned my heart for a long time. You weren't even born." Puck said, tapping Beth's nose.

"Oh. And where was I?" Beth asked.

"In her belly." Puck said as he rubbed Beth's back.

"If you love momma, does that mean that we're going to be a family again?"

Before Puck could answer, a noise of shattering glass echoed from upstairs. Puck's heart missed a beat and, after telling Beth to stay put, he ran up the stairs as fast as he could and walked across Quinn's room and into the bathroom. Luckily the door wasn't locked and he was able to get the door opened. Quinn stood there, staring at the broken mirror in front of her, bare feet and in just a towel, surrounded by glass.

"Quinn," he called out and she jumped in fear. Clearly, she had been in such a daze that she didn't even hear him come in. "Don't move." he took a step toward her and, in fear, she took one back. She whimpered when she stepped onto the broken glass and a piece planted itself in the sole of her foot. He walked across the room and lifted her -bridal style- before carrying her to the bed.

He sat on the bed and examined her foot. "It's pretty deep. We should have this taken care of. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

"No! I can't go there, I can't." Quinn said, shaking her head. Puck sighed and pulled his cell phone out.

"Let me call Tina, she can't come here and take care of the cut."

"Who?" Quinn asked. Puck looked up at her, suddenly realizing that she hadn't had any contact with the Glee club ever since she had met Tyler.

"Tina Cohen-Chang. She's an intern now, she can do the stitches."

"No. I don't want her here, I don't want her to see me like this." Quinn said, dipping her head down.

"Hey," Puck said softly, brushing some hair from her forehead. "You have nothing to be ashamed of Quinn."

"I told you I don't want her near me. I don't want anyone near me they will all just look at me with pitied eyes."

"No, she won't. It's either her or the hospital, you choose."

Quinn sighed. "Tina I guess."

"Alright, I'll call her. Stay put, I don't want you getting another injury," Puck said before leaving to give Tina a phone call. Quinn tried to move her foot but winced; the piece of glass was still logged in her sole. A few minutes later, Beth walked in followed by Puck. The seven-year-old climbed onto the bed and sat next to her mother.

"What happened momma?" she asked, playing with Quinn's brown curls. Quinn smiled sweetly and ran her hand up and down her daughter's arm.

"The mirror broke and a piece of glass got into my foot. But I'll be okay, it's nothing serious."

"Daddy was scared," Beth said with wide eyes. Quinn's ones traveled to Puck who was clearing up the bathroom floor for any piece of glass left.

"Why makes you say that?" Quinn said, stroking Beth's blonde hair with her fingers.

"Because when he heard the noise upstairs, he ran up the stairs. I've never seen him climb up the stairs that fast." Beth said, her eyes the size of bubble gums. Quinn chuckled and kissed Beth's nose before hugging her. "And he loves you. He told me so." then she cupped Quinn's ears with her tiny hands and leaned in, as if to tell her a big secret that nobody was allowed to hear. "And he said that you and me are the two most important persons in the whole wide world to him." She said with a grin. Quinn smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"He did, didn't he?" Quinn said. "Your daddy loves you very much, and so do I. You know that right?" Quinn asked, running her thumb over Beth's chubby cheek. Beth nodded and snuggled into Quinn's side, resting her head into the crook of her mother's neck. "Yes. You and daddy tell me it all the time. I love you too. You are the best parents in the world."

Quinn wished she could believe that, too.

-0-

Puck was cleaning the house when a knock came to the door. He walked to the entrance and pulled the door opened. Tina stood on the other side, her leather bag slung over her shoulder and her hair put up in a pony tail. "Hey Tina, thank you so much for coming."

"Yeah, no problem," she walked in once Puck had stepped aside and hugged him. "I haven't seen her in ages."

"Yeah, about that..." Puck began. "She has changed a lot and she isn't in her best shape so..try not to make it obvious."

"Oh," Tina breathed out. "Alright." They climbed up the stairs and Puck took a deep breath before opening the door. Quinn and Beth had both fallen asleep on Quinn's bed, Beth wrapped up in her mother's arms. He heard Tina gasp upon seeing Quinn. It was true that she was much thinner and that her hair color had changed, but she was still recognizable. Puck padded to the bed and lightly shook Quinn awake. Beth was the first one to stir and she opened her eyes. She lifted her head, surprised to see another person in the room. Quinn just woke up in time to see Beth rush to Tina and launch her arms around her. "Tina!"

Quinn didn't know that Beth often saw Tina or that she and Puck still saw each other. After all, Puck had kept contact with everyone in Glee club. She hadn't seen anyone except he, Rachel and Finn since her and Tyler's wedding. Quinn sat up in her bed and fiddled with her fingers until Tina got to her. "Hi Quinn," she said sweetly, bending down to pull her into a hug. They hadn't seen each other for a year after all.

"Hey Tina," Quinn said hesitantly, forcing a smile. "I'm sorry for bothering you but Puck insisted that I took my cut taken care off so..."

"He was right, it's not that deep so you won't need any stitches but it could easily get infected so I'm going to irrigate it and put a bandage," she said as she walked to the foot of the bed and took a closer look at Quinn's injury. "Why didn't you want to go to the hospital?"

Quinn swallowed. "Just...bad memories."

Tina took the hint not to push it and she took out her things. After having taken out the piece of glass, she irrigated the wound, she put some disinfectant and placed a clean bandage around her foot ."There, all better," she said as if she was talking to a five year old and it made Quinn sick. People had to stop seeing her as a weak woman. She was strong and she didn't need anyone.

"Thanks Tina," she still said, giving the Asian girl a polite smile.

"No problem," Tina said. "Take some pain killers if it hurts and try to avoid too much walking."

"You got it," Puck answered for Quinn. "Thanks Tina and I'll see you tonight."

"Great. Mike will bring some beers and I think Britanny and Santana bring the pizzas."

"Sweet," Puck said with a smile. "I'll walk you back to the door."

When they got to the front door, Tina couldn't help but asked, "What the hell happened to her and where is her husband?"

"She left him," Puck answered, clearing his throat. "She went through a lot of things the last few months and I doubt she wants me to tell anyone."

"I understand," Tina said sweetly. "I hope she's going to get better."

"Yeah me too."

"Well, I'll see you later Puck."

As soon as Tina pulled up from the driveway, Puck climbed back up the stairs. Checking that Beth was still napping in her room, he walked to Quinn's bedroom.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" he asked, sitting at the foot of the bed.

"No. It doesn't matter how it happened, it was just stupid." Quinn said, looking down a her hands which were folded on her lap.

"I don't really understand you right now. I mean, two days ago you asked me for help and that's what I'm doing Quinn, I'm helping you but every moment you get to be alone, you sink back in. Tell me how to help you."

"You can't. I have to do this on my own." Quinn said, finally locking eyes with him.

"Damn it Quinn, I can't stand seeing you like this," Puck shouted as he stood up. "It's too hard. Your eyes are empty, your smiles are forced...It's not natural. Tell me what can fix you and I'll do it."

"Just leave, I need to be alone right now."

"Fine. But just so you know, Tina, Mike, Santana and Brittany are coming here tonight to watch Finn's game. I hope you'll come downstairs to see them and enjoy the night."

"I'll see." Quinn said before turning on her side and closing her eyes. Puck sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

He walked to the main bathroom and closed the door behind him, his nerves getting the best of him as he punched the wooden surface with his fist. He growled out in pain and shook his head, trying to calm his racing heart. He turned on the water and cupped some in his hands, throwing it to his face. He breathed heavily and wiped his face with the nearest towel before leaning on the sink for support as his head started to spin. He hadn't got too much sleep these past few days and his head terribly hurt. Sighing, he turned off the water and decided that a few hours of sleep would do him good.

-0-

"Remember the day when we sang Thriller/Heads Will Roll at the half time show?" Santana said with a giggle as they talked during the half time of Finn's game. His team was winning by 5 points.

"Yeah, that make up was terrible," Puck said, laughing at the memory. "I still did convince the other jocks like Karofsky to do it."

"Oh shut it Puckerman," Santana said. "The show wouldn't have been the same without the cheerios. You should have seen Sylvester's face when we told her that we were quitting the cheerios, it was priceless."

Quinn got downstairs slowly, having heard laughing and shouting from upstairs. She stood by the doorway of the living room, watching as Beth ate a piece of pizza while sitting on Brittany's lap or how Puck seemed to be happy. He then lifted his head and his eyes set on her.

"Quinn, hey." he said, causing everyone's head to turn to the doorway. She smiled lightly and walked to the couch, saying a collective hello to everyone and a short hug. She ruffled her hand through Beth's hair as she walked past her and sat next to Puck.

"What's the score?" she asked, crossing her legs.

"Finn's team is up by five," Mike answered and winked at Quinn before giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"That's good." Quinn said as she leaned her head on Puck's shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked, taking her hand into his.

"I'm fine."

It wasn't exactly the truth but Quinn knew better than throwing away Puck's night just because she wasn't feeling that well. The game re-started and everybody got their attention back n the screen expect Puck, who leaned down to whisper in Quinn's ear,

"You sure?" he asked, giving her hand another squeeze. Quinn shrugged and swallowed back the lump in her throat.

"I'm just gonna go put Beth to bed and then I'll go too, I'm rather tired." she said, tearing her eyes away from his when she felt hers begin to wet.

"Maybe we can let her stay up a little bit more since her uncle Finn is playing," Puck said. Quinn nodded her head.

"Alright, I'm just going to go to bed then. Goodnight," she murmured and Puck leaned over to kiss the apple of her cheek.

"Call me if you need anything," he said softly. After saying goodbye to everyone and kissing Beth goodnight, Quinn climbed up the stairs as best as she could and got into the bedroom. She got into her pajamas and slid under the covers, hoping sleep would overcome her body and that she would be able to have a decent night of sleep, the first in a week and a half. After half an hour of turning around, she sighed heavily and walked into Rachel and Finn's bedroom, knowing that Rachel often took some sleeping pills with all the stress from Broadway. After looking through several drawers, she opened Rachel's bedside table and found a empty bottle of pills and a full one. She took two, deciding that it would be enough but kept the bottle in her room just in case. When sleep didn't come after another half an hour, she took four more. And did the same the next few minutes and again a few minutes later.

She did the same until finally sleep came.

* * *

Here's my return! Had a great time in Toulouse, now back in Brittany where it's coooold. Anyway, I know the end is a bit confusing and I'm sure you are all disappointed by Quinn's reaction to the kiss but hey, it would be too easy.

Review, please.

Merci ! :)


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you for your kind reviews! Here's another chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"What an eventful night," Puck said as he walked into Quinn's bedroom. He was now sleeping in the same bed than her because she was often having nightmares and she couldn't be alone. "Finn won, by the way." he said as he pulled his shirt over his head. He then realized she was asleep and smiled. However, the empty orange bottle on the bedside table had that smile quickly fading. He rushed over and grabbed it, reading that it was sleeping pills.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath as he dropped the bottle on the floor and knelt next to Quinn.

"Quinn," he said gently, shaking her arm. "Wake up baby," he said a little louder. He tapped her cheek with his hand, hoping to get a respond. When he got nothing, he checked her pulse, noting it was still there but very weak. He lifted her lid with his finger and noticed that her pupils were dilated. "Quinn! Damn it," he shouted, grabbing his phone from his pocket and dialing 911.

_"911, what's your emergency?"_ a voice asked and Puck was too busy trying to wake up Quinn that he didn't answer right away.

"My friend took a bunch of sleeping pills, she won't wake up. I checked her pulse, it's still there but it's very weak and her pupils are dilated." he said, as slowly as he could so the person on the other line would understand.

_"Alright, I'll send a team as soon as possible, what's your location, sir?"_

"Um, 41, Preston street, Lima." Puck said, his voice starting to shake. He took Quinn's hand into his and gave it a squeeze.

_"All right sir, the ambulance is leaving the station now. Keep your calm, the ambulance should be here in seven minutes at the most."_

He thought those seven minutes were the longest of his life. He waited, not knowing what to do except holding Quinn's hand and stroking her hair. When the ambulance got there and took care of Quinn, Puck walked to Beth's room and woke her up.

"Daddy," the girl said as she rubbed her eyes. "What's going on?"

"We need to go to the hospital," Puck said, lifting her up into his arms. "Your momma is sick. Listen, can you get dressed by yourself, I need to go see her." He kissed the top of Beth's head and got back into Quinn's room where the paramedic were placing her on a gurney.

"Is she going to be alright?" he asked, his eyes widening in fear as he swallowed the lump trapped in his throat.

"We need to do a stomach lavage in the ER before anything." one of the two men said. They got downstairs and Puck scooped Beth up and got in his car. The little girl watched in horror as her mom was loaded in the back of the ambulance. She didn't really understand what was going on and so there were tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Beth, calm down baby," Puck soothed, looking at her through the rear viewer mirror. Beth's cries only got louder.

"I want momma!" she shrieked, kicking her legs against her booster. Puck sighed as he ran his hands over his face, trying to focus on the road.

"I know sweetie, you'll get to see her soon, I promise." Puck said, glancing at her through the mirror. Beth wailed even louder and Puck snapped, "Stop crying, damn it!" he shouted, slamming his hands down on the steering wheel.

Beth got silent for a moment and whimpered before her cries got even louder. Puck closed his eyes and parked the car on the side of the road. He choked out a sob and wiped at his eyes when he felt tears in the corners. He then got out of the car, scooping Beth up into his arms. She was looking at him with wide eyes, having never seen him cry before.

"I'm sorry Beth, I'm so sorry baby." he whispered in her hair as she wrapped her arms around herself and buried her head into his neck. He rubbed her back soothingly. "Daddy's just scared."

Once they had both calmed down, Puck drove the rest of the way to the hospital. When they got inside, he walked to the desk.

"Hello, my friend was brought here. Quinn Fabray," the receptionist looked on her computer and then back at him.

"I only have a Quinn Bailey,"

"Yeah, that's her. How is she?" Puck asked, getting impatient.

"I'm sorry, I can only give information to the family or to the emergency contact."

Puck sighed heavily. "Well I'm the father of her child, doesn't that count as a family member?"

"I'm sorry, it doesn't."

"But I'm the only person she has right now," Puck insisted. This world was really fucked up.

"If you get the emergency contact to call here and say that is alright for us to tell you than we can."

Right, like he was going to tell that bastard who is the cause of all of this. "Who's her emergency contact."

"Rachel Berry-Hudson." _Thank God_, Puck thought.

"So if she calls here and gives the permission, it's all good?"

"Yes," the woman said kindly.

"Alright." he took Beth's hand and walked to the nearest phone. He put some coins in it and dialed Rachel's number.

"Hello? Who's this?" Rachel said and Puck would hear shouts and music behind her. They were probably partying after Finn's victory.

"Rachel, it's Puck. Listen, Quinn is in the hospital, she swallowed a bunch of sleeping pills and she's in a coma or at least I think that's what it is," he knew it was a lot for Rachel to take but he needed to do quick. "They won't tell me anything because I'm no family. But since you are her emergency contact, if you call Lima General and tell them that it's okay to give me some information, they will," he took a deep breath because his voice had started shaking again. "Can you do that right now?"

Rachel was taken aback by all those information in a matter of a few seconds. "Yeah, okay. Finn and I are taking the first flight out tomorrow."

"Alright. Thanks Rach."

"Was that aunt Rachel?" Beth asked as he hang up the phone.

"Yeah, it was aunt Rachel. She's coming back tomorrow."

"Where's momma?" Beth asked again, like she did in the car.

"The doctors are taking care of her right now," he said as he crouched down to Beth's level. "She's going to be okay, I promise." he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and rubbed her back. "Come on, I'm gonna buy you some M&M's."

-0-

"Mrs. Baley?" A middle aged woman dressed in a white lab coat called as she walked into the waiting room. Puck had taken Beth to the hospital day care so she could sleep a little. He stood, and walked over to the doctor.

"I'm Noah Puckerman, her emergency contact," he shook the woman's hand and waited for her to speak.

"I'm Dr. Weaver and I took care of your friend tonight. We did a stomach lavage before the pills could really have an effect on her brain so she will be alright, she's still unconscious but she should come around in a few hours. However I'm concerned about the reason she came to do this."

"Quinn has suffered from her husband violence for several weeks. She lives with me now but she's not the same. She's afraid of me sometimes and she doesn't eat very much, she has been taking way too much anti depressants before I told her to stop. She's having nightmares every night now. And I don't what to do, frankly. I want to help her but she just tried to commit suicide and..."

"It's okay, Mr. Puckerman. We'll find a way to get her through this. Have you ever heard of intense therapy in a medical house?"

"What, like a shrink?" Puck asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Not exactly. Quinn will go in a therapy house where she'll have sessions with a psychiatrist every day. But for it to work she has to always be surrounded by professionals. For four weeks usually but it can be reduced to three if the patient gets better faster."

Puck folded his arms over her chest. "It's like a psychiatric hospital, isn't it?"

"Yes indeed, but it's only for people who suffer from fears or depression. It's, let's say...a reeducation from pain."

"And will she be allowed visits there?" he asked.

"Not the first two weeks. She has to be completely sunk in somewhere she doesn't know with no familiar faces. From the third week, the visits are allowed every day." Dr. Weaver answered.

"And are children allowed to visit?"

"Not below the age of ten." the browned haired woman said.

"Quinn won't do it then. She has a seven-year-old daughter and without her she's going to completely fall apart." Puck said, shaking his head.

"She already has, hasn't she?" the older woman said, raising a brow. Puck remained silent, clearly thinking that she had a point. Quinn needed to be follow by professionals. "It's for the best."

"Yeah, I'll talk to her about it."

"Come on, I'll take you to her room."

-0-

She felt as if her body had been flattened under a steam roller. Her arms ached, her head felt as if it was going to explode and her lids were so heavy she had a hard time opening her eyes. When she tried to talk, her throat was so sore and dry that no sound came out of her mouth. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light, she turned her head to the side, wincing when a sharp pain stroke across her neck.

Puck was sleeping, his head resting on the bed as he sat on a plastic chair next to her bed. His hand was grasping hers and she shook it several times so he would wake up. He moaned and then seemed to realize where he was and where he had been for the last 18 hours. He looked up, his eyes red and rimming with tears. When it finally clicked in his brain that his wife was awake, he stood from his chair and wrapped his arms around her small body.

She felt herself breath a sigh of relief as she rested her head on his chest and grasped at the material of his shirt. Suddenly The events from the night before made their way back in her memory. She began to sob uncontrollably and tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

"Shh," he said. "It's okay. You are alright now."

"Don't ever do this to me again," Puck said, taking her hand and resting his forehead against hers. He kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheeks and her mouth before he could stop himself. Quinn didn't budge, she laid motionless.

"You know I didn't mean to," she said then. Puck frowned and locked eyes with her. "I just wanted to get some sleep. I would never commit suicide, you know that right?"

"You committing suicide was the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw the empty bottle of sleeping pills and you unconscious on the bed. I was so scared Quinn, you have no idea."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted a night without any nightmares." she said, fiddling with the hem of her blanket.

"Do you even realize what you've done Quinn? You swallowed 20 sleeping pills. Twenty!" Puck said as gently as he could bu his nerves getting over. "I was fucking scared Quinn, I thought you were dead. I love you too fucking much for you to die on me." he said, cupping her face with his hands. Quinn bit back a sob and turned away from him and toward the window, her gaze traveling until she would distinguish what she was looking at as silent tears made their way down her cheeks.

"I-I just wanted to sleep."

"And before that you just wanted to break the mirror, like that, just for fun?" Puck bit out before he could stop himself.

"I feel ugly, Puck! My eyes are not shining anymore, I'm skinny, I don't have anything that someone would like."

"But you are beautiful. Sure you lost weight and you are sad but you can get that back. You are so beautiful Quinn you don't even realize it. And look at our daughter, she's all you. Don't you dare say that you are ugly or anything that sort." he said. He laid his hand on her cheek, tilting her head back to him. He pressed his lips against hers swiftly before pulling away.

"I'm never going to get through this Puck." she said with a shaking voice.

"Yes you will. Your doctor told me about a home where you are surrounded by professionals who help you through your fears, nightmares, pain."

"A psychiatric hospital?" Quinn asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Sort of. It will help you Quinn. You'll have a session with a shrink every day."

"How long is the program?"

"Four weeks, three if it goes faster than usual." Puck answered.

"Are visits allowed?"

"Not the first two weeks. But yes afterward. I'll drive you there, I will visit you and I'll be right there when you come out. However, Beth wont be allowed to visit you." he said, cringing as he did so.

"Then I'm not going." Quinn said firmly.

"Quinn," Puck pleaded. "I know it's crazy but you have to do this. If you want to get through this, you have to go there. I know it's going to be hard seeing Beth only once a week but afterward you'll see her everyday and you'll be happy like you used to be."

"Can you bring Beth here please?" Quinn asked, her voice dying in her throat. Puck nodded and kissed the top of her head before leaving the room. He came back a few minutes later with Beth in his arms.

"Momma!" she exclaimed, almost jumping from Puck's arms. He set her on the bed and Beth wrapped her arms around her mother as tight as she could.

"Hey baby."

"Are you okay?" she asked; sitting on her lap.

"Yeah, I'm going to be okay." she said, brushing a few strays if hair from Beth's face and tucking them behind her ear.

"Daddy cried." she whispered before looking at Puck who blushed a little bit. Quinn chuckled and looked at her ex-boyfriend slash sort of boyfriend now.

"He did?"

"Yes, the first time I've ever seen him cry." Beth said with wide eyes, causing Puck and Quinn to laugh lightly.

"I saw him cry once." Quinn said with a small smirk.

"Really? When?"

"When you were born baby," Quinn said softly. "That was the first time I saw him cry. See, you were just a few inches tall that he already loved you. Crazy, huh?"

"In my defense," Puck chimed in as Beth turned to him. "You were the cutest baby I had ever laid eyes on."

"You are a dork daddy."

"Beth, come here baby," Quinn said as her daughter sat back down in her lap. Quinn wrapped her arms around Beth's waist as she felt tears rise in her eyes.

"I'm going to have to go away for a little while," Quinn began. Puck's head rose and he gave her a curious look.

"Why?" Beth asked. "For how long?"

"Four weeks, maybe less. You know the nightmares I've had the past few days?"

"Yes. I didn't like it at all." Beth said.

"Exactly. Well me neither. And for the next four weeks, I'm going to go to a house with other people who can help me with those nightmares." a few tears escaped Quinn's eyes and Beth caught them with her thumb. Quinn smiled and hugged Beth tighter.

"So I won't see you for four weeks?" she asked, tears filling her eyes as well.

"No, you won't. It's going to be hard, for me and for you but we'll through it, won't we?" Quinn asked with a wink as she balled her fist and held it in the air. Beth bumped her fist against her mother's and Quinn then pulled her into a massive hug.

"I love you momma." Beth said in Quinn's neck. Quinn couldn't hold back the tears now and she whispered back,

"I love you too baby." Quinn kissed the top of Beth's head and then looked at Puck. "You can tell the doctor that I'll go as soon as possible."

* * *

Tell me what you think! Updates won't come as often as before, school starts again soon and I have some work to do. ;)


	15. Chapter 15

Quinn let out a sigh as she zipped her suitcase. She had come home from the hospital two days ago and the doctor that had taken care of her found a place for her in the psychiatric hospital. Puck was supposed to be taking her there ad then she wouldn't see him for a week, just as she wouldn't be able to see Beth or Rachel, or Finn. Making sure she didn't forget anything, Quinn scanned the room and then picked up her suitcase and got downstairs. Puck, Rachel, Finn and Beth were already downstairs, waiting for her.

"Well, I guess I'm ready." she said as she set her suitcase down. She walked over to Finn who pulled her into a giant hug.

"Take care little sis'. See you in a few weeks." he said, kissing her cheek. Quinn smiled and nodded her head, brushing yet another tear from the corner of her eye. She then turned to Rachel who had been bawling for the past few minutes.

"I'm going to miss you," The brunette said, throwing her arms around Quinn.

"Me too." Quinn said, kissing Rachel's cheek. "I'll see you in two weeks."

She then turned to her daughter and crouched down to her level. "Alright," she tucked a stray of hair behind Beth's ear as she spoke. "You be good for your dad, and aunt Rachel, and uncle Finn. But you are allowed to make fun of him if you beat him at the Wii, _again_."

"Hey!" Finn cried out. Beth giggled and nodded her head.

"So I'll see you in 4 weeks baby. And I could really used some drawing of yours to take with me."

"You got it momma." Beth said. Quinn pulled her into a hug and kissed her nose before standing up. Beth ran up the stairs and came down a few seconds later with a drawing she had made the day before. Quinn hugged Beth one more time and slipped the piece of paper in her purse. She wiped her cheeks and drew out a shaking breath before Puck grabbed her hand and took her suitcase.

"Bye," she waved at them before stepping through the door. The car ride was silent, Quinn was biting on her bottom lip the whole time, her foot tapping on the floor. Puck would squeeze her hand once in a while and bring it to his lips to kiss her palm. He parked in the parking lot and got out her suitcase from the trunk. They walked into the building and it seemed to be a quite nice place. Quinn felt more confident, Puck could tell. They got a chart for her to sign in and got it back to the desk.

"Mrs. Fabray, I'm going to need you cell phone, any iPod or things like that. Your wallet too."

Quinn looked at her with wide eyes but she didn't seem to be kidding so with a sigh, she gave her her cell phone, her iPod and her wallet to the lady once she had turned them off. "You might want to say goodbye before you step through the doors. After that you won't see each other for two weeks."

Puck dragged Quinn away from the desk and laced their fingers together. He gently brought her body to his and cupped her face with his hand. "Time's gonna fly. I'll be there first thing in two weeks."

"Okay," Quinn whispered. She lifted herself up on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his. He cupped her neck with his hands and they stayed lip locked for a few seconds before Quinn was pulling away and ready to leave. He brought her back to him and wrapped his arms around her as she rested her head on his chest. He rubbed her arms when he heard her sniffle and kissed the top of her head. When she broke apart, he cupped her face and locked eyes with her.

Then he spoke, "I love you."

She simply nodded her head, "I know. I just can't say it back yet."

"I know, I..I understand," he said. Quinn drew out a shuddering breath and picked up her bag. "I'll see you in two weeks."

"Okay," she kissed his cheek and then bit back a sob before walking away, wiping the tears that had run down her cheeks.

_Week One_

The place she was in was quite nice. She had her own bedroom with her own bathroom as well, just like in a hotel. She had common breakfast, lunch and dinner with the other patients and she saw a shrink twice a day. Her shrink was a nice woman who was about thirty, very kind and beautiful. Every time she had a nightmare, she had to tell it to the shrink right away.

_Day One_

"So Quinn," Dr. Philips said after Quinn sat on the chair in front of her desk. "What has brought you here?"

Quinn felt the urge to roll her eyes. "I think it's all written in the chart you have in front of you," she said matter-of-factly as her eyes moved from the doctor to the chart Dr. Weaver had filled the informations in.

"That's true," Dr. Philips answered with a small smile. "But I want _you_ to _tell_ me."

"I have nightmares." Quinn said with a sigh. "Every night I wake up screaming or shaking."

"What is the reason of those nightmares?" The blonde woman in front of her asked. Quinn closed her eyes while fidgeting with the material of her dress.

"I...I-" she stuttered, and Dr. Philip nodded her head.

"It's alright, take your time, we're not in a hurry." she encouraged.

"My husband was hitting me. It lasted a few months." Quinn said.

"Just hitting?"

Quinn shook her head, "He pushed me down the stairs too." she said.

"That's where the broken arm came from," she asked after looking at Quinn's hospital file. "And the miscarriage as well."

Quinn's eyes were now rimming with tears, "I..I-" she began, but felt the bile rise from her stomach and in her throat. Placing a hand over her mouth, she shot up from her seat and ran to Dr. Philips office's bathroom as fast as she could and threw up in the toilet. As she began to cough uncontrollably, she felt a hand rub her back.

"We should stop the session here. Why don't you go rest in your room, we'll continue tomorrow." Dr. Philips said and smiled kindly. Quinn wiped her mouth and then stood before retreating back to her room. She soothed her jeans as she walked to the bed and buried her head in her hands.

She didn't know if she would be able to go two weeks without seeing her family.

_Day Two_

Quinn sat in the comfy deep green arm chair which stood on the other side of Dr. Philips' desk, her fingers drumming against the arm rester as she waited for the older woman to come in. Brushing a few strays of hair from her face, Quinn looked out to the window. It was raining and the droplets of water were echoing against the windows of the building as they hit the glass. The trees were bent over with the wind's strength. They were announcing a storm for the night. Quinn knew that Beth would probably want to sleep with her father since she was terrified with storms and Puck was her super hero.

She was brought back to reality when Dr. Philips cleared her throat. Quinn's head shot back in her direction and she must have come in a while ago since she was already sat at her desk, her file opened and a pen in her hand with her glasses on.

"Hello Quinn," the blonde woman said. "How are you today?"

"I'm good."

"Did you have any nightmares last night?" she asked with a sweet smile.

Quinn's head shook. "None. It's the thing the nurses have given me. I fall asleep right away."

"Yes, well don't get too used to that because yo won't have any the second week," she said. "So, where did we stop yesterday?" she looked down at her notebook, "Oh, right. So he pushed you down the stairs. What happened next?"

"He-he kicked me in the ribs and stomach and then he walked away," Quinn said.

"What did you do then?"

"I think I blacked out. I regained consciousness a while after and I went to the hospital."

"How did you feel when the doctor told you that you had lost the baby?" Dr. Philips asked.

"How do you think I felt?" Quinn retorted back. "It's like I had lost a part of me. I felt empty, skinny, sad."

"Did you tell your husband?" she asked.

"Y-yes."

"And how did he react?" the older woman questioned.

"I can't do this," Quinn said as she shook her head and laid her hand on her forehead.

"Yes you can, take your time." Dr. Philips encouraged.

"I need to go," Quinn said, then stood and walked out the door. When she got back to her room, she erupted into sobs and tears and wished that Puck was there to hug her and make everything go better.

If only he was there.

_Day 4_

The storm had passed but the rain was still there. She wondered what was Beth doing right now. She knew that the little girl loved to go play in the puddles but she was sure that Puck wouldn't let her go outside with that weather.

"Hello Quinn," Dr. Philips said as she came into her office. Quinn snapped out of her daze and smiled at the older woman. "I'm sorry that we weren't able to see each other yesterday but an emergency came up and it took the entire day to get it fixed."

"It's alright," Quinn said quietly.

"How have you been?" the blonde haired woman asked.

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, I miss my family though."

"That's totally normal. But let's talk about what we finished on Tuesday. How did your husband react when he learned that you had lost the baby?"she asked, and Quinn swallowed the lump which was forming in her throat.

"H-he said that I wasn't capable of doing anything, like keeping a baby. Then he said that we should practice," Quinn said, wiping the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"What did you tell him?" Dr. Philips pushed on.

"Um...I said that I wasn't able to have any sexual intercourse for a week or two. B-but he said that he had needs and that he didn't care,"

Dr. Philips nodded her head as she wrote down on her notebook. "What happened then?"

"He grabbed me and shouted at me before walking away. Then after dinner h-he started kissing me and biting my skin...I told him to stop and..." A sob escaped her lips and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't do this."

"It's alright. You have already made a lot of progress," The woman said with a nod. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

Quinn nodded her head and stood before walking back to her room.

10 days to go.

_Day 5_

"Then he unbuttoned his jeans and lifted my dress," Quinn said quietly as tears streamed down her cheeks. "After he was done, he pushed me down the floor and I couldn't move anymore. My legs hurt, my stomach, my head."

"What did you do afterwards?" Dr. Philips asked.

"I left and went to some my best friends' house. They took me in and that's where I've been staying for the past two weeks."

"Why did you take those sleeping pills?" Quinn closed her eyes and sighed.

"Every night I had a nightmare and I couldn't sleep. So I took some to get some sleep, I was just very tired." she said softly. "I didn't want to commit suicide. I just wanted to sleep."

"And did you think that taking fifteen pills was a good idea?"

"I-I didn't realize what I was doing. It was an accident." Quinn explained, a sudden headache invading her. She rubbed her temples with her hands and exhaled a long breath.

"Maybe we should call it an end to this session," DR. Philips then said. "You need to rest."

"Yeah, I think so too." Quinn said with a small smile. She stood and left the room, as she had been doing the previous days. She lay down on her bed, her hands laced together and rested them on her stomach. She wondered what Beth was doing now.

_Meanwhile_

Beth lay on her stomach on the floor, drawing a picture, the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she focused on doing the outline of her drawing with her crayon. Puck was making dinner in the kitchen, he had invited Finn and Rachel over. The three of them were in the kitchen, talking about Quinn.

"How do you think she's doing?" Finn asked after taking a sip of his water.

"I think the first week has been hard but the second should be better and the third even easier since she will be allowed visits." Rachel spoke up, as she rubbed her growing stomach. She and Finn had found out she was pregnant 2 and a half month ago but they had decided to keep it silent until she had entered the second trimester. Of course Quinn didn't know and they decided that they weren't going to tell her until Rachel showed.

"Yeah. Beth can't wait to see her," Puck said, even though he was standing in the same situation. "She's had a nightmare last night and kept asking for Quinn. It took an hour 'till she finally got back to sleep." he said.

"Poor thing," Rachel said, her shoulders slumping. Beth walked into the room and handed a sheet of paper to Puck.

"I made this for momma. Do you think she'll like it?" the little blonde girl asked. Puck scooped her up and placed her in his lap. He took the picture between his fingers and read. There were three figures and a rainbow above them. He guessed that the three figures were he, Quinn and Beth. In blue was written above them,

Feel better soon momma. Love you lots. -Beth

"I think she's going to love it," Puck whispered and kissed the top of Beth's head. Beth beamed with pride and laid back against Puck's chest, sucking on her thumb.

_Day 7_

"What's this?" Quinn asked as she watched as Dr. Philips placed her phone on the desk.

"You've made some real progress and I think it's time for you to communicate with your family. Next week is going to be tough, you'll be off your medication and you'll probably have a lot of nihtmares. You are going to need some support from the people you love."

Quinn took her cell phone in her hands and smiled at the blonde. "Thank you."

When she got back in her room, she turned her phone on and to her surprise, she had seven text opened them one by one.

**_Monday, August 1st. From Puck._**

_Hang in there babe, fourteen day to go._

Quinn smiled at the name and opened the second message._  
_

**_Tuesday, August 2nd. From Puck._**

_Beth misses you. She tells you that she loves you lots. Thirteen days to go._

Quinn almost began to cry. She missed so much as well._  
_

**_Wednesday, August 3rd. From Puck._**

_I miss you too. Twelve days to go. _

Quinn grinned and let out sigh. She kind of missed him too._  
_

**_Thursday, August 4th. From Puck._**

_I hope everything is okay for you. I love you. Eleven days to go._

She swallowed but didn't wipe off the smile on her face; it felt too good. _  
_

**_Friday, August 5th. From Puck._**

_Beth drew you a beautiful picture. She can't wait to give it to you. We love you. Ten days to go._

Quinn closed her eyes and let a few tears escape. She wished she was with them right now._  
_

**_Saturday, August 6th. From Puck._**

_Beth and I went to the beach today. She had a blast. The rainbow forming after the rain made me think of you. Nine days to go._

She had seen that rainbow too, they were looking in the same direction._  
_

**_Sunday, August 7th. From Puck._**

_Eight days to go. Xox._

Indeed._

* * *

_

Sorry for the late update, like I said, school work comes first. My French teacher gave us seven essays to write so it's going to take some time. I hope I'll be able to update soon though. Can't promise you anything!

Reviews?

Merci ! :)


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry for the delay. Dreams are in italics.

* * *

_Day 9_

She had had a terrible nightmare the night before. First it had taken her two hours to fall asleep. Then, around 4 am, she dreamed of Tyler's comeback. In her nightmare, she was alone in the house, Puck had one with Beth to school. Finn and Rachel were on tour. She was alone in the house. Scared, terrified by any noise she heard.

She woke up screaming and tossing around, ready to kick anybody that stood there. Her shrink came in the room a few seconds later and she had had to tell her nightmare. After she had told her, she fell asleep right away and didn't have any.

That night it was more intense.

_Quinn was sat on the couch, working on her computer and rinking mint tea, her legs crossed indian style and her hair pulled up in a pony tail. She was sipping on her tea when she heard three knocks at the door. Furrowing her brows, she walked to the door and looked throuh the peephole but nobody was there. Shrugging, she walked back to the couch. _

_Bam, bam, bam. She jumped, her hand flying to her chest. She walked back to the door and locked it. Breathing heavily, she sat back on the couch and looked at her computer screen. _

_"Hello, Quinn," she heard his voice. It was close, meaning he was in the same room as hers. She turned around and, after setting her computer aside, stood from the sofa. _

_Her eyes traveled down to his hand, which was holding a gun. She sucked in a shuddering breath and swallowed. "W-what are you doing here?"_

_"I've come to see you," Tyler said, smiling slightly._

_"Tyler," Quinn said a small smile. "Don't do anything you will regret later."_

_"Oh, I won't regret this," he rose the gun toward her and Quinn stood there as if she was petrified of fear. "You hurt me Quinn. Don't you understand how it hurt to watch you leave with that Puckerman bastard?"_

_"I-I didn't mean it," Quinn said, shaking her head. Her eyes stared at the metallic piece in his hands. His finger pressed on the safety lock "Please don't."_

_"It's too late. You can't take it back." he sneered out. Quinn shook her head as a sob escaped her throat and she wished that Puck would come through the door right now and save her. Then she heard, the gun shot sound. Then she felt as if her heart had stopped beating, as if she was choking._

Quinn shot up in her bed, her eyes wide opened as she emitted a loud scream. She tried to regain her breathing but she couldn't.

"He shot me," she said to Dr. Philips who sat on the chair next to her bed. Her hands immediately flew to her stomach and to her surprise there was no blood but just her shirt covering her skin.

"It was just a nightmare," the blonde woman next to her said. "Tell me about it."

_Day 10 _

"_T-tyler, please stop," Quinn cried out as he lifted her skirt around her stomach. "I don't want this." she sobbed out but Tyler was more busy unbuttoning his belt. _

"_Well I do," he said. The hand that was underneath her breast rose and squeezed it. Quinn let out a yelp of pain and closed her eyes. "And you do as I say, remember?" _

_Then he entered her without any warning and she sobbed even harder. "Please s-s-stop," she pleaded as he started thrusting into her harder and faster. "It hurts Tyler." _

_He ignored her comments and she gripped the sheets of the bed, biting down on her bottom lip to contain her cries of pain. When he stumbled over the edge, he smiled and stayed in her a few seconds more and pulled out. _

"NO!" Quinn shouted as she woke up. Breathing heavily, she wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand and looked at Dr. Philips who sat near her bed just like the night before. When she calmed down and wiped away her tears, the older woman leaned back into her chair and opened her notebook.

"Now," she said gently. "Tell me about your dream."

_Day 11_

"_Quinn," Tyler called up the stairs. "Come downstairs!" _

"_In a minute!" Quinn shouted back from upstairs. She heard him growl something out as he waited for her to come downstairs. When she did, she looked at him expectantly. He didn't say anthing and walked to the kitchen, Quinn following him. "What's going on?" _

"_What's this?" he asked, pointing at the unwashed dishes sitting in the sink._

"_I-it's dishes." _

"_Thank you for that obvious information sweetheart," he said bitterly. "Clean the shit up." _

"_No," Quinn said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. _

"_I beg you pardon?" _

"_You do the dishes yourself. I'm not the only one who eats in this house," she said, ready to walk away. He grabbed her arm and brought her back to him. She closed her eyes and heard the smack of the blow across her face. Then he pinned her up against the counter and started to unbutton her jeans. _

"_Stop it!" she shouted. When he didn't stop, she lifted her knee and slammed it against his crotch. He cried out in pain and released his grip on her. She walked away, grabbed her purse and left the house. _

Quinn woke up, a little bit calmer that before, but still shaken. She steadied her breath and looked at Dr. Philips who was, as usual, sitting next to her. The blonde looked at Quinn with a raised eyebrow and Quinn said, "I fought him," she said, and then let a smile appear on her face. "I fought him and he stopped."

"That's a big step ahead, Quinn. Do you realize that?" Dr. Philips asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, I know. If felt really good." Quinn said as she brushed her wet hair from her face.

"Tell me about it," Dr. Philips demanded before opening her notebook.

_Day 12_

"I heard that you have a daughter," Dr. Philips told Quinn during their day session. Quinn couldn't help but suppress the smile that spread over her face.

"Yes. Her name is Beth and she's seven years old."

"Is the father around?" The blonde woman asked, writing some thngs down on her notebook.

"Yes," Quinn began. "He has helped me a lot before I came here. He's the one who convinced me to come here."

"He seems to be there for you, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is. He holds me after I have a nightmare, h-he tells me that everything is going to alright after I freak out..." Quinn explained and stopped a few seconds before continuing. "He loves me."

The woman in front of Quinn nodded. "And do you love him back?"

"I-I..I don't know. He has betrayed me before, that's why we aren't together anymore but...I think I do. The problem is...I'm not sure I can trust men again."

"Do you feel safe when you are with him?" Dr. Philips asked.

"Yes. Safer then ever."

"Then it appears to me that you already trust him even if it's just a little bit."

"Yeah, probably."

When she went back to her room, she dialed Puck's number and patiently waited until his voice picked up.

"Hello?" he said, but only silence met him. "Quinn?"

"Hi," she said softly.

"How are you?" he asked, placing Beth into his lap and mouthing to her that it was her mother on the phone.

"I'm good."

"Do you want to talk to Beth?"

A smile spread over her face once again. "Put her on the phone please."

"Momma?" Beth's voice could be heard at the other hand.

"Hey baby," Quinn said as tears rose in her eyes. "How are you?"

"Good. I miss you lots though."

"Me too sweetie, me too. Are you having fun with daddy?" Quinn asked, wiping her eyes from any wetness.

"Yep! He let me sleep in his bed when there was the storm and I got to play in the puddles, it was so much fun!"

"I bet it was sweetie," Quinn said with a smile. She heard that her voice was bean to tremble and she didn't want Beth to worry or anything. "Listen, I have to go honey. Could you put daddy back on the phone please?"

"Yep," Beth said. "Love you lots momma."

"I love you, too, baby."

Beth handed the phone back to Puck and jumped off his lap to go play with her toys. Puck put the phone back to his ear and said,

"Are you really okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Quinn told him sincerely. "It's been hard though. But the nightmares I've been having are less and less intense and the shrink is really helping me."

"That's great Quinn," Puck said, and even though she couldn't see him, she could hear the happiness in his voice. "I'm really proud of you baby."

"I've got your texts, thank you."

"Yeah, I figured you would like to read 'em once you got your phone back," Puck said, and Quinn could picture him shrugging his shoulders and acting casual about it because he didn't want it to sound too romantic. Because Puck being Puck, he tried to avoid anything that would make him a romantic. But it was Quinn. Quinn was special when it came to Puck's point of view on romance.

"Are you coming on Monday?" she asked, her voice slightly shaking.

"I told you babe, first thing in the morning, I'll be at the door."

"Visits aren't allowed until one pm."

Puck chuckled into the phone. "I'll be there at 1pm sharp."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you on Monday then?" Quinn said;

"Yeah, of course," Puck answered. "I love you."

"I-I...I know," She said, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "Bye Puck."

_Day 14_

"I'm not a good mom," Quinn told her shrink during the day session. Dr. Philips raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side.

"Why is that?" she asked.

"I've been angry, sad all the time. I hurt myself several times and sometimes Beth witnessed it. It's nothing a seven-year-old would want to see," Quinn explained. "I don't want her to come see me here. I know she wants too but I don't want her to see me like this."

"Alright,"

"I don't want anyone to see me like this either. Not Puck nor Finn."

"What about Rachel?" Dr. Philips asked, remembering what Quinn had told her about her best friend.

"I-I-I don't know."

_Day 16_

"I heard that Rachel came by yesterday," Dr. Philips said during their evening session. Quinn nodded her head.

"Yes she did," Quinn said.

"How did that go?"

"It felt good to see her again. But I'm scared to go back." Quinn admitted, looking down to her lap.

"Why is that?" the blonde woman asked.

"Because I'm afraid he's going to come back. I know there is his trial in a few weeks but what if the jugde doesn't sentence him?"

"Quinn," Dr. Philips said as she covered Quinn's hand with her own across the desk. "There's no way that he's going to get away with nothing. There are proofs. Picture of your scars, bruises, x-ray of your broken bones and the miscarriage."

Quinn doesn't flinch anymore at the sound of her lost baby. She's still sad, but she isn't afraid of it and she's ready to start a new life and forget about her past.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I'll be there with you before the trial and I'll be in the court room. Everything is going to be alright, I promise. Judges are really understandable when it comes to women abuse. Even if you are hesitant, they will let you take your time." the older woman said with a kind smile.

"I know. I just... wish everything was over already." Quinn said with a sigh.

"It's almost over. You've made a great progress Quinn. You don't have nightmares at all anymore."

"Yeah...When can I go home?"

"At the end of the week, in 5 days."

_Day 17_

Quinn was sat on a bench in the medical house's garden. It was late august and it was rather hot. She was writing something in the journal she had been keeping for a few months now when she heard footsteps behind her. Rachel stood a few feet away from her, her dark curls swiftly falling around her shoulders and her light gray bag hanging from her shoulder.

Quinn smiled and place a hand above her eyes, shielding them from the sun behind Rachel. "Hi,"

"Hey," she moved across the grass and sat next to Quinn. "How are you?"

"I'm good. They told me I would be able to come home in a few days."

"That's great sweetie," Rachel said as she tucked her curls behind her ears. "Puck really wants to see you."

"I know. I just...I'm not ready yet."

"Quinn..." Rachel drew out. "You'll have to see him eventually."

"I know," Quinn said and took Rachel's hand in hers. "Tell him to come pick me up on Monday, alright?"

"Okay," Rachel then reached in her back and pulled out an envelope. "Beth did this for you. There's a drawing and a letter. I helped her write the letter. She really misses you."

"I miss her too. Phone calls aren't enough. I wish I could see her."

Rachel gave Quinn's hand a squeeze. "Only four days to go."

_Day 21_

"Okay, I'm letting you leave on the third week but I want you to come to a session with me twice a week. Does Monday and Thursday work with you?"

Quinn nodded her head. "Yes."

"Okay, let's say 10 o'clock then. Have you packed?"

"Yes, I'm all ready to go." Quinn said as she eyed the suitcase resting at her feet.

"Okay, then I guess I'm giving you this back," Dr. Philips said as she reached in her drawer and took Quinn's iPod and her wallet. "And I'll see you on Thursday."

"Okay," Quinn said softly. "Thank you for everything, Dr. Philips."

The blonde woman smiled kindly. "Just don't think it's over yet Quinn. You suffered a traumatic journey, just take it easy. It's possible that you'll have nightmares and flashbacks. If you are panicking or something, just call me," she handed Quinn a square piece of paper with her phone number written on it. "At any hour."

"Thank you," Quinn said, then stood and picked her suitcase up. "See you on Thursday."

She walked out of the office and walked to the front door of the building. When she stepped out of the building, she took a moment to breath in the pure air and enjoy the light of the sun on her skin. A hundred meters from where she stood was a red truck. As she approached the car, she saw Puck leaned against it, his hands dipped in his pockets and a smile on his face. She walked a little bit faster and dropped her suitcase to the ground when she was just a few feet from him and launched herself into his arms.

"Hi," She mumbled into his shoulder as he tightened his grip on her. He breathed in her scent and closed his eyes, lifting her off the set he down then and she stayed in his embrace for a minute before letting him go.

"Hey," he finally replied, pushing a few strays of hair from her eyes. "Ready to go home?"

"Yes," he leaned down and lightly kissed her cheek before opening the car door for her and placing her suitcase in the trunk. They drove to Finn and Rachel's house, her hand in his gripping tightly as he pulled up in the driveway. As soon as she stepped through the door, Beth ran to her and hugged her with all her might.

"Hi momma," Beth said in the crook of Quinn's neck after Quinn had scooped her up. "Are you all better now?"

"Yes baby," Quinn said as she rubbed Beth's back. "I'm all better now."

At least she hoped so.

* * *

So I've noticed a lack of reviews lately. Not that I like bringing it out like that, but I'm really trying to update as often as I can with school and all. So I'd appreciate it if you kept with telling me what you think, maybe I'll be more motivated and finish this story because I've had a lack of inspiration lately.

Also check out my new one-shot 'What happened to us'

Thank you. :)


	17. Chapter 17

After Beth had let go of her, Quinn looked up to hug Finn. He lifted her up the round against her protest and kissed her cheek. She then moved to her best friend, whom she had seen just a few days ago and wrapped her arms around her. She felt a bump against her own stomach and looked down.

"You're pregnant," she stated, slightly pulling away from Rachel. That explained why Rachel always showed up at the medical house with wide shirts or dresses.

"Yeah, three months and a half now," Rachel said, rubbing her swollen stomach.

Quinn took it better than she thought she would. "T-that's amazing. Congratulations guys," she said with a bright smile but Rachel frowned.

"Are you okay with it?" she asked sceptically.

"Of course. I mean, I-I'm happy for you and I hope I will be the godmother otherwise you are not my best friend anymore," she said, pointing a menacing finger at Rachel who let out a watery laugh.

"I'm so glad you're taking it well," Rachel said, wrapping Quinn in yet another hug. Puck came back into the house a few seconds later with Quinn's things in his hands.

"Where shall I put these?" he asked.

Rachel pulled away from Quinn and said, "In the guest room."

"As soon as Tyler is in jail, I'll be out of your house."

"You can stay here as long as you want sweetie."

Quinn nodded her head and started to climb up the stairs, Puck following her with her suitcase and bag. She opened the door and saw that her bed was made, a new vase with fresh flowers on her bedside table and the mirror of the bathroom had been changed. Puck set her suitcase and bag near the door and approached her.

"You okay?" he asked as he placed his hand on her lower back. She turned around and gave him a her head, she then wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her body as well and held her tight, pressing his lips to her hair, inhaling the scent of the coco shampoo she used.

Quinn pulled away then and locked eyes with him. "Thank you, for being here and helping me through this."

Puck leaned down and gently took her lips in his before breaking apart. "I'm going to be there every step. Now you have the trial and it will be over, you won't have to be scared anymore."

"I hope so," Quinn said, tucking a stray of hair behind her ear. "I need to take a shower."

"Alright, I'll let you to your...things," Puck said, running a hand through his mohawk. "Um, Beth wanted the three of us to watch a movie tonight and since Rachel and Finn are going out for dinner, I thought that we could do this here...?"

"Sure," Quinn said. "I'll be down in half an hour."

He nodded and kissed her on the forehead before leaving the room. Once she was alone, Quinn took the fresh washed and folded towels which rested upon the bed comforter and walked to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She looked better. She had actually had several decent nights of sleep and she had regained some weight. The bruises were all fading, but the scar on her collarbone from one of her falls still remained.

Shaking her head, she let out a sigh and took a nice and hot shower before dressing herself to enjoy the night with her daughter and her sort of boyfriend, they needed to talk about their relation ship statue.

-0-

Beth had chosen to watch Home Alone, even though she had already watched it at least five times and she almost knew it by heart. She was snuggled in Quinn's side, her little fist curled around Quinn's shirt just as she used to do when she was just a baby. Puck had his arm wrapped around both his girls and loved every second of it.

When Beth's lids began to get heavy with sleep, Quinn looked at Puck who switched off the television and scooped her up into his arms. "I wanna sleep with momma." Beth mumbled into her father's chest. Puck and Quinn shared a look and Quinn nodded.

"Okay baby, you can. Just for tonight though, alright?" Beth sleepily nodded and Puck carried her upstairs, Quinn following behind. He placed Beth on the bed and Quinn wrapped the covers up her chin.

"Can you sing a song daddy?" Beth asked, looking at Puck with those puppy dog eyes she had inherited from Quinn, which mean eyes he could not resist to.

'What do you want me to sing?" he asked.

"My song," Beth said, and both parent knew exactly which song she was talking about.

"Okay. Let me grab my guitar downstairs." he left the room a few seconds later and Quinn bent down to kiss Beth's nose.

"Daddy was sad all week you know,"

"He was?" Quinn asked softly as she toyed with Beth's curls.

"Yep. I was too but he was sadder. He told me that it was because he missed you. Did you miss him too?"

Before she could answer her daughter's question, Puck walked back into the room, his brown guitar in his hands. He sat on the bed across from Quinn and rapped his fingers against the cords.

"Beth I hear you calling, but I can't come home right now. Me and the boys are playing, and we just can't find the sound," he began, stealing glances at Quinn before focusing back on Beth. "Just a few more hours and I'll be right home to you. I think I hear them calling, oh Beth what can I do..."

When he realized Beth had fallen asleep, Puck set his guitar to the side and bent down to kiss her forehead. Quinn did the same afterward and whispered to Beth that she loved her. The parents walked out of the room and headed downstairs where Quinn asked Puck if he wanted a cup of tea. While the water was boiling, they sat down at the table and Quinn took a deep breath.

"I wanted to talk to you about us," she said, setting her hands in front of her on the table. Puck swallowed and leaned back in his chair.

"That doesn't sound really good," he said with a sigh, running a hand over his face.

"No, it's not what you think it is. Lately I've been having some feelings for you and I want to do something about it but I just want to take it slow. And I need to make sure I can trust you before I can take our relation ship to a next level." Quinn said in one breath, and stopped when she saw a little smile appear on his lips. She then smiled too and reached out to take his hand. "I really want us to have a second chance."

"You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that," Puck said and his smile broke into a wide grin. "And you can trust me. I'll never hurt you ever again, I can promise you that."

"I just need you to be patient. I'm not ready to _do_ anything yet. And I don't want to tell Beth anything yet. If things don't work out, I don't want her to be heartbroken."

Puck nodded. "I agree."

He stood up and helped her up before his hands set on her hips. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to her. She moaned into the kiss and kissed him back, swiftly sweeping her tongue across his bottom lip. When he granted access, their tongue made contact and at that exact moment, Quinn felt as if a hundred of fireworks had gone off in her stomach. He pulled her close without breaking the kiss and their lips moved perfectly against the other's. When air was needed, they finally pulled away and Puck's hazel eyes locked with Quinn's amber ones.

"I love you," he said, cupping her face with his hands.

"I love you, too." she whispered back, her hands reaching out to caress his cheek. She rested her head on his chest and sighed contently.

When Puck asked if Quinn wanted him to stay there in case she had any nightmares, she shook her head and told him that she wanted to be alone and try to win her fear over like her shrink had shown her how. She told him to take Beth back home because she didn't want her daughter to witness any of her nightmares.

A few minutes later, she was waving at him as he pulled back of the driveway and started on the rad, Beth sleeping in the back seat. She felt a chin run down her spine and realized that she was only in a dress with a thin cardigan. She walked back to the house and immediately locked the door behind her, checking several times that it was correctly locked. Afterward, she walked to the kitchen, pulled out a bottle of orange juice, poured some in a drink and headed upstairs. She set the glass on the commode and opened her dresser to take out her pajamas. She drank her orange juice and slipped under the covers, hoping her night would be nightmare-free.

-0-

"Hello Quinn," she heard from behind her and spun around as fast as she could. Tyler was standing there, near her bedroom door, just a few meters away from her.

"Tyler," she said, and she was surprised that her voice wasn't trembling. "What are you doing here?" she asked, clenching her teeth and crossing her arms over her chest. He was supposed to be in prison, the cops had told her they had arrested him.

"Your hurt me Quinn, you know that? I gave you everything you've ever wanted and you left me like garbage and told the cops on me. I'm disappointed in you Quinn, very disappointed. The cops went to my house but luckily I was just coming home from work and I saw their car so I went to the hotel. I'm going to run away but before that I need to do something. You know what that is Quinnie?" he asked, but didn't wait for her answer before continuing. "I need to show you how hurt I am." Tyler sneered out and walked to Quinn so quickly that she barely knew what was happening when he sent a blow in her face. She stumbled backward and violently fell on her bed, Tyler hovering her body. She started to see black spots around her and wiped the blood above her eye. Whimpering in pain and when he started to take off her cardigan, she lifted her leg and smacked his crotch with her knee. Tyler cried out in pain and fell to his side on the bed. She slowly stood and gripped the furniture in the hall and the ramp in the stairs to made it downstairs. When she reached the door, she felt her leg being pulled at. He pushed her to the floor and kicked her in the stomach with his foot before she could fight back.

"S-s-stop," she stuttered out in pain, clenching her stomach. "Tyler."

His knee collided with her ribcage and she felt her breathing being cut short as she began to cough uncontrollably. She cried out in pain when he kicked her back.

"P-please," she begged, rolling on her back. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back on her feet. Quinn's eyes barely stayed opened and he slapped her cheeks several times so she remained awake. He shoved her on the couch and crawled above her.

She tired to push him away when he lifted her dress above her waist, she tried to prevent him from pulling off her cardigan and she tried to slap him away when he violently bit her neck with his teeth.

"Stop it Tyler, please."

"Little bitch, you're gonna hold still otherwise it's going to get worse," he murmured in her ear as he held her hands above her head. Leaving a bruising kiss on her lips, he reached behind her and pulled down the zipper of her dress. She slapped him on the cheek and he stopped in his tracks before pulling out a pocket knife he had in the pocket of his sweater. He took out the blade, pressing it just below her breast. "Try that again and I'll leave a scar."

Quinn whimpered as Tyler pulled the straps of her dress from her shoulders and drew the material down her body. He squeezed her breast and bit her lower lip until it got bloody. When she lifted her knee to kick him in the crotch, she couldn't because she was out of strength and he was blocking her leg with his.

"That wasn't very nice Quinn," the short blade cut at her skin on the side of her stomach and she screamed in pain.

"Please Tyler," she begged. "I'll come back and live with you but please, stop."

"Not until I've gotten what I want," he said, then kissed her lips as his hands took her panties down.

It hurt so much and Quinn was so worn out that she slipped into unconsciousness when he was finished. She heard his voice one last time and felt pain around her stomach again before darkness surrounded her and silence was the only thing she could make out.

"NO!" Quinn screamed as she woke up, panting and sweating. She placed her hand on her chest and swallowed as she heard footsteps near her room. Her heartbeat quickened as she looked at the door.

"Quinn, are you okay?" Rachel asked as she popped her head around the doorway to look at her friend. Quinn exhaled a sigh of relief and laid a hand on her sweaty forehead. The brunette walked into the room and sat on Quinn's bed, covering Quinn's hand with hers.

"What happened?" Rachel asked, tilting her head to the side. "You were screaming."

"I'm sorry, I just had a nightmare."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Rachel asked, squeezing Quinn's hand. Quinn nodded and Rachel slipped under the covers next to her best friend and wrapped her arms around Quinn as she told her about her nightmare. She fell asleep a few minutes later and Rachel smiled. Maybe she had faced her fear after all.

-0-

Quinn woke up the morning after and stretched her arms over her head. She was still a bit shaken by the nightmare she had had the night before but was glad that she had been able to tell Rachel about it and that she had been able to fall back asleep afterward. Tyler's trial was the day after and she was starting to be anxious. She knew she would have her lawyer's support as well as Rachel's, Finn's and Puck's.

She heard her phone ring on her bedside table and walked to the side of the bed to pick it up. She pressed the green button and rose the phone to her ear before speaking,

"Hello?"

"Hey sweetheart,"

"Tyler," Quinn stated, clenching her teeth. "Why are you calling me?"

"To make sure that you know what you're doing. You can still fix it before you do something you regret. You don't want me to go to jail, sweetheart, do you?"

"Yes, I do. You despise me to the deepest in my soul, Tyler. I want you to go to jail. I'll be in trial tomorrow with _Puck_." Quinn said, then hung up the phone before he could say anything else. She knew she shouldn't have said that last line but it felt good. After getting dressed, Quinn had breakfast and met Puck and Beth at the park. As they had agreed last night, they weren't going to show any signs of affection in front of the little girl.

"Hey," Quinn said as she approached the slide where Beth and Puck played together. Beth ran to he mother and hugged her legs quickly before running back to one of her friends. Puck stood and brushed the sand from his jeans. He kissed her cheek sweetly and squeezed her hand.

"Hi," he said with a smile. Quinn slid her hand from his and looked at Beth who was focusing on her sand castle. "She isn't looking," Puck said, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand. "How did you sleep?"

"Alright. I had a nightmare but I was able to fall back asleep."

"That's good," he said, giving her hand another squeeze. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"I think so," Quinn said. "I hope it's going to go well."

"There's no way he's going to escape with no jail at all."

"I know," Quinn said. "I got a call from him this morning."

Puck clenched his teeth and growled out, "What did he say?"

"He tried to corrupt me. He asked me if I was really sure that I wanted to send him to jail."

"Fucking bastard," Puck said.

Quinn's eyes traveled to Beth. "Puck. Promise me you will behave. I can't have you in jail too."

"I promise. It's still going to be hard not to slam his head against a wall. But I'll hold still."

"Even if he tries to reach out for me or anything like that, promise me you won't punch him, Puck."

"I promise," Puck answered and kissed her forehead. They sat down on the bench and Puck wrapped his arm around her shoulders, rubbing her upper arm with his hand. Since Beth wasn't looking, Quinn placed her head on Puck shoulder and exhaled a content sigh.

She hoped the day after would go without any bumps on the road.

* * *

Thank you very much for all your reviews, they mean a lot. Only a few chapters left, it should be wrapped up in 23 chapters.

Tell me what you thought of this chapter please!

Merci ! :)


	18. Chapter 18

Quinn soothed her clothes one last time before taking her purse and heading downstairs. Puck's mother was there, as well as of course, Rachel, Finn and Puck with Beth in his arms.

"Are you ready?" Rachel asked as she handed Quinn her coat. Quinn nodded her head and took her coat from Rachel, pulling it on. She took Beth from Puck's arms and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, baby." she whispered into Beth' ear who immediately whispered the three words back. She set beth down and hugged Mrs. Puckerman before Puck took her hand and the quatrain headed to the car.

"You okay?" Puck asked, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand. Quinn glanced at him and forced a smile.

"I will be when all of this is finally over."

Tyler had been arrested when she was in the medical house and he had been in jail ever since. Quinn felt uncomfortable to see him again, but she knew he would be handcuffed and surrounded by guards. The drive to the courthouse was silent, Puck and Quinn were in the back of the car while Finn drove with his wife to his side. Puck knew Quinn was freaking out, especially when they turned on the road leading to the courthouse and her hand tightened its grip around his. They stepped out of the car, Puck's hand not living Quinn's until she had to got to the front with her lawyer. Puck sat behind her, on the other side of the ramp, Finn and Rachel to his side.

When Tyler entered the room by the side door, handcuffed and surrounded by two guards, Quinn sucked in a breath. They gazes met but Quinn quickly looked away before it got too intimidating.

Everyone rose as Judge Taylor walked into the room. Once they were seated again, the judge began giving specific instructions and comments to the jury, telling them what was to take place during the trial. It would begin with the prosecution's opening statement, followed by the defense's (if they chose to give one).

Quinn's heart raced as she looked toward the jury. They were twelve, six men and six women. She shuddered and faced the Judge. The DA presented the case and called her to the bar. Looking at her lawyer who gave her an encouraging nod of the head, Quinn rose from her seat and walked to the bar where she was told to raise her right hand.

"Do you solemnly swear that the evidence you shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do," she answered before being allowed to round the witness box and take a seat.

"Mrs. Bailey," the DA began. "You married Tyler Bailer on February 8 2016, is that correct?"

"Yes," Quinn answered.

"And you have a daughter, Beth, that you had with an ex-lover, I believe?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever been unfaithful to my client, Mr. Bailey?" the Defense Attorney asked.

"No, I haven't," Quinn answered.

"Have you ever looked at another man or showed any attraction for another man in Tyler's presence?"

"Not that I recall,"

"Not even for Noah Puckerman?"

"No."

"No? Not even flirting or little touches?"

"Objection!" Quinn's lawyer, Mr. Jagsin, said with annoyance. "Asked and answered, your honor."

"Sustained. Please_ ask_ a question, Defender."

"Did you ever touch Mr. Puckerman in a way that would make my client mad?"

"No. It was just a kiss on the cheek, nothing more."

"For what reason did Tyler hit you for the first time?"

"He got jealous of Noah."

"So you obviously did something with Mr. Puckerman that made him mad."

"Objection!" Mr. Jagsin said. "Ask a question."

"Sustained. Please do, defender."

With a nod of the head, the DA continued. "What did you do with Mr. Puckerman that made my client mad?"

Quinn closed her eyes and then answered. "I kissed him on the cheek."

"You suffered a miscarriage a few weeks ago. How did that happen?"

"Tyler pushed me down the stairs."

"I see here on your medical file that they found traces of amphetamine in your blood. These kinds of 'medicine' cause miscarriage, I'm sure you know that."

"Yes," Quinn answered. "But I didn't take any."

"Really? Then how come it was found in your blood?"

"I don't know, I didn't take any." Quinn said, starting to sweat underneath her shirt.

"It would be understandable that you wanted to kill that baby, the baby of a man you didn't love. You'd rather have Puckerman's baby, didn't you? Because you kept _his_ baby."

"I didn't kill my baby!" Quinn shouted. "I already loved it, I couldn't kill it." she said, tars forming in her eyes as her fingers moved across her flat stomach.

"Thank you Mrs. Bailey," The DA said with a sarcastic smile, satisfied of himself, before taking his seat back. Quinn's lawyer stood and walked to the bar.

"You said that Tyler hit you the first time because he was jealous. But before that, did he ever yell at you or slapped you?"

"Yes."

"For which reasons?"

"He grabbed me and shoved me against a wall one morning because I hadn't ironed the right shirt. He slapped me the night after because I hadn't made the right dinner."

"Did he push you down the stairs, Quinn?"

"Yes. And once I was down, he kicked me in the stomach."

"Which cause your miscarriage and a broken arm," the lawyer stated. "Has he ever sexually abused you, Quinn?"

Quinn's yes traveled around the room and she found her shrink, who gave her a nod. "Yes," she said as she turned back to her lawyer. "I didn't want to. I had just miscarriaged and I couldn't have sexual intercourse for a few weeks but he didn't care. He did it anyway."

"You keep saying he, who is _he_?"

Quinn pointed to Tyler. "Him, Tyler Bailey."

"So, he forced himself on you?"

"Y-Yes," Quinn said after swallowing. She brought a trembling hand to her face and wiped the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Can you keep going or do you want to take a break?" her lawyer asked softly, not wanting to push her.

"I-I'm okay."

"Alright. Can you tell me what happened after he finished?"

"He pushed me on the kitchen floor and insulted me before leaving the house. Then, once I got a bit of strength back, I drove to my best friend's house and asked her if I could stay there."

The dark haired man nodded his head. "What happened then?"

"Tyler threatened me when I was at the park with Beth and I wasn't able to sleep for weeks. I kept having nightmares."

"Nightmares about what?" her lawyer asked.

"About him coming back to get his revenge. I dreamed once that he had killed me." The former cheerleader answered.

"Has he ever threatened you with a weapon, Quinn?"

Quinn nodded. "W-with a base ball bat. H-he didn't hit me with it but he said he would."

"But he didn't?"

"No, he didn't." Quinn said.

"Okay, thank you, Quinn," Quinn forced a smile and stood form the chair in the witness box before going back to her seat.

"Do you need any witness, Mr. Jagsin?" The Judge asked.

"Yes, indeed," He turned to the audience and quickly found who he was looking for. "Ms. Berry, if you may,"

Rachel took a deep breath and squeezed Finn's hand before stepping up into the witness box. After swearing that she would tell the truth and only the truth, Quinn's lawyer spoke.

"Ms. Berry, you are Quinn's best friend, is that correct?" he asked. Rachel nodded her head as she answered,

"Yes," she said, lacing her fingers on her lap to prevent them from shaking.

"Have you noticed any change in Quinn's personality in the last few weeks, before she came to live with you?"

"Yes, I have," Rachel answered and coughed lightly before continuing. "She was shutting off from everyone, she was down all the time. And she always wore heavy clothes even when it was very hot. To hide the bruises, I guess."

"Have you ever witnessed Tyler being rude to her?"

"Yes. They were at dinner at my house and Tyler snapped at her. Quinn immediately looked down and apologized." Rachel said, remembering every detail.

"When Quinn came to your house the night she left Tyler, in what state was she?"

Rachel held back the tears and her bottom lip began to quiver. "I-I...she was not herself. She didn't talk much and she was empty and exhausted."

"Did she have any apparent injury?" Quinn's lawyer asked and Rachel closed her eyes before opening them again and meeting Quinn's gaze didn't want to expose Quinn's life in front of strangers but she knew it was for the best. So after some hesitance, she began,

"Yes. She had several bruises all over her body and...cuts and bruises on her inner thighs." Rachel managed to breath out loud enough for everyone to hear. Her gaze then skipped to Quinn apologetically.

"What happened then?"

"Tyler went to our house. He knew Quinn was there and he threatened us if we didn't call her downstairs."

"What did he do?" Mr. Jagsin asked.

"He took a few steps toward me. H-he had fire in his eyes like he wanted to hit me or something. But my husband Finn pushed him back. Then he left when we told him we were calling the cops if he didn't go."

"Have you ever witnessed Quinn having nightmares?"

"Yes. It was horrible. She was screaming, kicking, telling I don't know who to let go of her...She had one of those every night."

"Thank you Ms. Berry, I've heard everything I needed to hear."

Rachel smiled politely and went back to her seat. Then Dr. Philips was called to the bar.

Dr. Philips," Quinn's lawyer began. "I believe Quinn was under your watch for a total of two weeks, in a medical house?"

"Yes, this is correct," the blonde woman answered.

"For which reasons?"

"Quinn came under my watch because she was really on edge. She suffered from depression. She had an eating disorder and wasn't able to sleep without having nightmares."

"What did you do then?"

"We had two sessions per day and I asked her to tell me why she was here. Quinn suffered a severe trauma and it took her four weeks to get past it. She isn't completely heal but she's working on it."

"Thank you, Dr. Philips, that will be all."

Mr. Jagsin swept his hand over his forehead and called the next one to the bar. Tyler.

"Mr. Bailey..." Quinn's lawyer began after Tyler had sworn to tell the truth and only the truth. "Have you ever felt threatened by Noah Puckerman when it came to Quinn?"

"Yes. He was alway putting his hands on her and flirting. He even used his daughter to spend more time with Quinn a couple of times."

Puck snapped as his blood boiled inside him. "What the fuck is your problem?" he shouted as he shot up from his seat. Finn pulled him back down as the judge hit his gravel and ordered silence in the room. Once the room was silent, Mr. Jagsin nodded at Tyler, indicating for him to keep going.

"I was afraid he was going to get her back." Tyler said.

"Because Quinn ever showed any kind of interest in Mr. Puckerman?"

"Of course. She kissed him on the cheek while looking at me. She was teasing me and one night I yelled at her, that's all."

"So you deny all the blows and hitting?"

"She pissed me off! She deserved it, and she liked it."

The lawyer narrowed his eyes. "She liked what?"

"When I touched her roughly. Or when I was a little controlling. She pissed me off on purpose because she enjoyed what I did to her afterwards." Tyler said, casting his eyes to Quinn who shook her head. Puck clenched his teeth and Tyler was lucky that Finn prevented Puck from standing up, otherwise he would have already punched him in the face.

"What about the baby? Did you know about that?"

"Quinn never told me but I found the pregnancy test in the trash. I was so happy that I went to the store and bought the baby a little thing. Then I learned about the miscarriage. She wanted to hide it from me, the pregnancy, until Rachel told me."

"If you knew she was pregnant, why did you kick her in the stomach?"

"I didn't," Tyler said. "She fell down the stairs because her daughter's roller skates were at the top. I wasn't even here when it happened."

"Thank you Mr. Bailey, that is all." The lawyer told the judge that he was done with the witnesses and th DA did too. The court was adjourned while the jury made his decision. Quinn stood up and her lawyer gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "You did great Quinn."

Quinn forced a smile. "I'm glad this is over."

Rachel hugged her on their way out of the court room and Finn kissed her cheek, telling her he was proud of her. She then walked to Puck who pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her forehead and she placed her head on his shoulder as they exited the courtroom and stepped into the hall. Quinn caught sight of Dr. Philips a few meters ahead and the blonde woman walked to her.

"I'm very proud of you Quinn, you did great." she said, squeezing Quinn's arm lightly.

"Thank you," Quinn said. Half an hour later, they were called back into the court room and Quinn sat next to her lawyer patiently as the judge read the sheet of paper where the verdict was written. One person of the jury stood and cleared her throat. Quinn's heart beat faster as she waited for the verdict.

"In the matter of the people against Tyler Bailey," she began. "We find the defendant...guilty of domestic violence, sexual abuse and threats with a weapon."

Quinn breathed out a sigh or relief and closed her eyes as she let the tears she had holding fall freely down her face. The judge hit his gravel and spoke.

"Mr. Bailey will be sentenced to eight years of jail and a restriction order from Quinn Fabray after his release. The trial is closed." The Judge hit his gravel and everybody in the room stood to leave.

Quinn, Finn, Rachel and Puck got out of the room and Puck picked Quinn up in his arms and hugged her tight. "I'm so proud of you baby. You did amazing."

The former cheerleader wiped her tears away and smiled at Puck. A genuine smile that Puck hadn't seen in a long time. She lifted herself on her tiptoes and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. "Thank you."

-0-

Puck and Quinn got home a few minutes after Rachel and Finn did. As soon as they stepped through the door, Beth was in Quinn's arms, hugging her as tightly as she could.

"Did Tyler go to jail momma?" Beth asked, pulling away from Quinn.

"Yes, he did. He won't hurt anyone of us anymore." the browned haired mother said as she tapped Beth's nose with a smile.

"Are you going to get your hair back blonde now?" she asked, playing with Quinn's brown curls. "I like it better when it's blonde like mine."

"I do too," Puck chimed in, getting closer to the two girls.

"I'll see," Quinn said with a laugh. Beth grinned and Quinn set her down. She ran off back to her grandmother, that way giving Puck and Quinn some privacy.

"Are you alright?" he asked, placing his hand on her lower back. Quinn sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You need to stop asking me that," she said, raising her eyebrows. "I'm a bit shaken with having to shuffle all these memories but now it's behind me. It's my past. Now I'm ready for the future."

Puck pulled her closer by wrapping his arms around his waist. He smirked and asked, "And do you see me in that future?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and kissed him lightly. "Do you even have to ask? I'm ready to move on, to start off, with Beth and Finn, and Rachel and the Glee club and _you. _Especially you."

"Oh, well, I guess I should take that as a yes," he said teasingly. He leaned down and captured her lips into his. Quinn felt fireworks going off in her stomach and closed her eyes as she let her lips move over his. Then he pulled away and locked eyes with her. "I love you, Quinn."

"I love you, too."

* * *

Okay, so I'm kind of nervous about this one, I've never attended a trial or anything that kind so I tried to do my best after reading several fics with a trial. I hope it was realistic and that you liked it.

Let me know what you thought, please.

Merci ! :)


	19. Chapter 19

"Puck?" Quinn called out as she stepped into Puck's house. They had agreed to go to the park with Beth today and Quinn was supposed to meet he and Beth at his house. She closed the door shut behind her and padded to the living room. The sight before her as she stood in the doorway had her beaming. Puck and Beth were on the floor, both on their stomach, as Puck spelled the word Beth wanted to write on her sheet of paper.

He lifted his head and winked at Quinn with a grin, "Hey Babe," he greeted. Beth waved at her mother and smiled before focusing back on her picture. Puck stood and pulled Quinn by the hand, leading her into the kitchen. He pulled her close and pressed his lips to her as he hooked his arms around her waist. "How was your session?" he asked, not letting go of her once they had broken apart.

Quinn didn't really want to talk about it so she simply shrugged her shoulders. "It was okay," She flee from his grasp and grabbed her bag. "We should get going, I've got to meet someone afterward." she then said, walking out of the room. Puck sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.

They got to the park half an hour later and Beth immediately ran off to the swings, asking for her dad to push her. Quinn laughed as Puck obliged and she pulled out her reflex camera out of her bag. She snapped a few photos of Puck and Beth until Beth decided that she wanted to go to the monkey bars instead. Puck walked back to Quinn and stood behind her.

"She so has you wrapped around her baby finger."

Puck scoffed. "That's not new," he said. "Been a while since I saw you with this." he said, pointing to her camera.

Quinn shrugged and sighed. "Yeah, I kinda lost inspiration these last few months."

Puck looped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "You should open your very own gallery."

"Come on Puck, this is insane," Quinn said, rolling her eyes as she lightly scoffed.

"Why? You were great at it before Tyler took away all your inspiration and convinced you to stay at home. You have this perception of things and shit through your lence."

Quinn uncomfortable. "Can we stop talking about this, please?" she asked, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Yeah, sure, let's talk about something else. Oh but wait!" he pulled away from her as he exclaimed, "You won't tell me anything! You're shutting yourself off, Quinn, you don't realize it. You think you are doing better but you can't if you keep it all inside. I want to help you Quinn, but you won't fucking let me." he said as he stood in front of her. When he reached out to touch her cheek with his hand, she slapped it away.

"You don't know how hard it is, Puck. You don't know how I _feel_. It's hard to feel your hands on me because all I see is _him_! I want to be with you and start over but...I can't do this right now."

She started walking away but Puck's voice stopped her. "That's right, walk away like you always do! You know what your problem is Quinn? You are not capable of pulling through yourself. You need me but you can't admit it because it will affect your pride," Quinn walked back to him with fury in her eyes. "You want to do everything on your own but you don't realize that you _can't_. So okay, walk away and screw your life like you've already done and you seem to be pretty good at it!"

_SLAP. _

Quinn's hand collided so hard with his cheek that the sound echoed throughout the park, drawing every look toward them. Puck was a little taken aback by her action and he cupped his cheek with his hand, trying to rub the pain away. Quinn's furious glare softened when she heard a sob near them. She snapped her head around and saw their daughter standing there, scared and with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Beth," Quinn said softly as she walked to her daughter and tried to embrace her but the little girl freed herself from her grasp. She walked to her father and asked to be scooped up. Puck did and Beth glared at Quinn before burying her head in her father neck. Puck felt bad for Quinn but his daughter's cries were the only thing he could focus on. He rubbed her back soothingly and whispered sweet words.

Quinn swallowed and slowly rose from her crouched position, heavy tears filling her amber eyes. She picked up her bag and pushed her hair from her face. "I..I-I'm going to go home."

"Quinn," Puck pleaded but the former cheerleader didn't budge as she started to walk toward Finn and Rachel's house, her heart shattering as she replayed the look her daughter had just given her.

-0-

Puck softly knocked on Rachel and Finn's door, waiting for it to be opened. He had dropped Beth off to his mom's and was now trying to get things right with Quinn. He knew he had pushed her by saying that and he shouldn't have. He just wanted her to realize that she needed help to get through her problems. Maybe he should have been a little more gentle with his words and not let his anger get the best of him.

The door opened a while later, Rachel standing on the other side. "Hey," she greeted with a small smile. "Aren't you supposed to be at the park with Beth and Quinn?"

"Quinn isn't here?" he asked, frowning.

"No. The last time I saw her she was going to your house to go the park afterwards." Rachel said, as confused as Puck.

"Oh," Puck said, then ran his hand through his mohawk. "Fuck."

"What? What's wrong?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Where the hell is Quinn? And Beth?"

"Beth is at my mom's, I dropped her off on the way here. I don't know where is Quinn, I figured she had gone home. Damn it, I gotta go find her." he said. "We got into a fight and I think she's pretty shaken up."

"Noah Puckerman, what did you say to her?"

"Gee, I didn't say anything. Or maybe if I did, not in the right way. She kinda slapped me and then Beth got mad at her for slapping me and she walked away."

"And you didn't try to stop her?" Rachel shouted.

"I couldn't! Beth was crying and Quinn was furious, why was I supposed to do?" Puck exclaimed, growing frustrated.

"We have to find her. I'm going with you." Rachel said, grabbing her coat from the hanger next to the door. She put it on and closed the house behind her before walking with Puck to his truck. They drove around for five good minutes, not finding Quinn anywhere in Lima.

"Oh, I know!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed, remembering a certain detail about Quinn's 'secret' places. "Drive to McKinley."

"Why?"

"Because she's probably there." Rachel said. Not wanting to lose anymore time, Puck drove toward their former high school. "In our senior year she used to go to the park near the school whenever she felt a little off. It was like her secret place."

"What do you know, you guys weren't friends until the end of senior year...?" Puck asked, confused.

"Doesn't mean I didn't care about her." Rachel answered simply.

"Does she still have nightmares?" Puck asked, glancing to his friend.

"She didn't have any in a few days. And she eats more too."

"That's good," Puck says. "She doesn't want my help though."

"You gotta give her time, Puck. She went through something very traumatic and you are at about the same height as Tyler, the same strength, it's normal if she remembers certain things when you are near her. She will trust you again, I'm sure about that but it might take some time. But just so you know, I'm totally rooting for the two of you."

"Thanks, Berry." Puck said with a small smile. He parked his truck in the parking lot and quickly spotted Quinn in the park they had near the high school. Rachel told him she would stay in the car and he gets out, slowly walking to where Quinn was sitting.

"Hey," he called out, not to surprise her. She was fiddling with her camera before she turned around. He smiled and sat next to her.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he blurts out, turning his head so he faced her.

"Me too. I'm sorry for slapping you," she said as she gently rose her hand and ran her fingers over his cheek. He took her hand into his and intertwined their fingers.

"It's alright. I'm a bad ass, a slap is nothing."

"Oh, really?" she teased, raising an eyebrow, which quickly dropped when she remembered Beth's reaction. "She hates me."

"What? That's bullshit Quinn, Beth loves you more than anything." Puck argued.

"Have you seen her reaction? She looked at me as if I had killed someone."

"That's 'cause she didn't understand what you did. Quinn, she doesn't hate you. She is confused, that's all."

Quinn sighed. "I still feel like she isn't going to forgive me for slapping you," she said, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

"She will," Puck assured her, kissing the back of her hand. "How 'bout I take my girls to dinner tonight? Maybe we can go watch a movie after that, I heard they were rerunning _Finding Nemo _at the cinema. Beth loves it."

"That'd be nice," Quinn said. She turned off her camera and put the strap over her shoulder before they both stood. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"Rachel." Puck simply said. Quinn smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked to his truck.

-0-

Puck was right. As soon as Quinn had stepped through the door, Beth hugged her with all her might and told her that she loved her, even though she didn't really understand what had happened earlier at the park. They explained to her that Puck had said some things which made Quinn mad but that now everything was okay.

As promised, Puck took his girls out for dinner in a specific restaurant, the only one in town which sold the only ice creams Beth liked. Quinn teased Puck on their way there, after he had caved when Beth insisted that they go to that restaurant and not a different. He shrugged it off, telling Quinn that Beth could ask for a puppy, he would give it to her. And he apprently forgot about innocent little ears too.

"A puppy, really?" Beth asked from the back seat, kicking her legs on her booster in excitement. Quinn laughed out loud, before placing her hand over her mouth to contain the giggles trying to escape. Puck smiled, enjoying the sound of her laugh, which he hadn't heard in a long time. He bowed his head slightly before looking back at the road and then at Beth through the rear view mirror.

"I don't think so," he said as firmly as he could, but the grin on his face betrayed him.

"But why?" Beth whined, kicking her legs once again against her seat. Quinn bit her bottom lip to hold her laughter as she watched Puck struggle to find the right words not to offend his daughter. He turned around in his seat as they sat through a red light.

"A puppy is a lot of work, sweetie. It runs everywhere, it barks, it knocks things down...It's a lot to handle."

"But you're my daddy," Beth said. "You can handle it."

Puck beamed with pride and smirked at Quinn who rolled her eyes. He then cleared his throat and regained all seriousness that had faded a few seconds earlier as he pressed on the gas pedal once the light had turned green. "Still. Have you ever taken care of a puppy?"

"Yep! Laura has one. A Golden retriever. And he's soooo cute," she emphasized with a wide grin. "And he's really wise. He ain't a handful."

Quinn widened her eyes upon hearing her daughter's language. She looked at Puck, or rather glared at him. "Language, honey."

"Daddy talks like that sometimes," Beth said proudly and Puck shut his eyes for a second. He avoided Quinn's furious gaze as he parked in the parking lot of the restaurant. They got out of the car and Puck opened Beth's door before unbuckling her.

"You like putting Daddy in trouble honey, don't you?" he whispered to her before tapping her nose.

"Sorry," Beth said sheepishly, jumping out of the car and taking her mother's hand. "Daddy didn't do anything wrong, momma. He just talks weird sometimes."

Quinn chuckled and shook her head. "It's fine, I'm not mad at him."

Puck breathed out a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arm around Quinn's shoulders, pulling her to his side. They stepped into the warm restaurant and the waiter indicated to the table for three that Puck had booked. After placing some extra cushions on Beth's chair, the little girl sat down -or up- and rested her chin in her cupped hands as she gazed intently at Puck.

"Yes, munchkin?" he asked, not even bothering looking up from his menu, he could feel her big eyes on him.

"My birthday is coming soon," she said. Quinn hid her smile behind the menu and cleared her throat.

"Oh really? Isn't it like in eight months?" he said as he lifted his eyebrow. "As far as I know, we are still in October and you are born in May, am I correct?"

"Yes, very correct daddy," Beth said in a very serious tone. "Maybe I should just ask Santa then, because I'm a good girl and I always get what I ask for."

"Oh you do, do you?" Puck said with an amused smile. "What are you taking Quinn?" he said, turning to his girlfriend.

"Daddy!" Beth exclaimed. "Don't change the subject."

Puck rolled his eyes. "We'll see about the puppy, alright? Now, I really want to eat so I'd like for you to choose your food," he said, sliding Beth's menu toward her. Beth pouted but did as she was told.

"You are so whipped," Quinn whispered, leaning against him.

"I'm not," Puck said with a scoff. Quinn shrugged her shoulders and kissed her cheek before returning back to her menu. The dinner went smoothly, and Beth couldn't stop bouncing up and down when they told her they were going to watch _Finding Nemo_ afterward.

After the movie, they left the cinema with Beth on Puck's shoulders, since they were parked far from the building and the girl was getting tired. "Daddy, do Dory again please."

Puck sighed and tried his best at impersonating Ellen Degeneres' voice. "Okay...I'm thinking about something small...and orange. It has white stripes..."

"That's Nemo!" Beth exclaimed, setting her hands on Puck's mohawk. "Your hair is cool."

Puck laughed along with Quinn. "Yeah?"

"Can I have the same?"

"As cool as it would be, I don't think your mom would like it," he glanced at Quinn who was shaking her head. She slipped her hand into his and intertwined their fingers. "Stay over tonight?" Puck stated more than asked.

Quinn hesitated at first, but then remembered that Finn had planned a romantic dinner that night and she wanted to give them some privacy. "Okay."

-0-

"Is she down?" Puck asked as Quinn stepped into his bedroom. Quinn nodded and wandered around the room. She hadn't been in there for so long. There was still the photo of the three of them the day Beth was born on his commode and the one of she and Puck that Rachel had taken during their graduation. "You alright?" Puck asked as she tared blankly at the wall. Quinn snapped out of her daze and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she smiled and he handed her a pair of his sweatpants.

"Here, you can sleep in that." he said. She walked in his bathroom and changed her clothes quickly before stepping back into the bedroom, where Puck sat on the bed, in some sweatpants as well and a black wife beater. She sucked in a breath upon seeing his muscular arms and shook her head at her own silliness.

He looked up from his cell phone and wiggled it in his hand. "I sent a text to Finn so they wouldn't worry tomorrow morning about you not being at the house."

"Oh, right." Quinn said. Puck stood and placed his hands on her hips. He leaned down and kissed her lips gently. Quinn moaned and hooked her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. They pulled away when air was needed and Puck noticed that Quinn winced when her shoulders slumped.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just a little tensed, that's all." she said, rubbing the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

"Looks like you could use a little massage."

Quinn actually thought it was a good idea. "You wouldn't mind?"

Puck shook his head. She sat on the bed, him behind her and she slid off the straps of her tank top and bra. His eyes immediately set upon the two inches scar across her collar bone. He ran his thumb over the mark and asked,

"How did you get that?"

She knew he was asking that to get her to open up a little. After several seconds of complete silent with Quinn hesitating each time she opened her mouth, she finally spoke.

"Tyler and I were fighting and he pushed me to the floor and I knocked against the sharp corner of the fire place. I got a few stitches."

"Thank you," Puck whispered against her ear, wrapping his arms around her small body.

"For what?" Quinn asked, frowning in confusion.

"For telling me. I know it's hard for you to open up but it's a start," he explained, nuzzling her neck. "I'm proud of you, Quinn."

Quinn closed her eyes as she felt him kiss her scar and pepper kisses from her shoulder to below her earlobe. Gentle, soft, patient kisses that she hadn't gotten in a long time. She was scared that Puck was going to take advantage of the situation and try to have his way with her. But he didn't, he just kissed her neck and lips and kept her into his comforting embrace.

At that moment, she decided that he should know everything. She didn't want to keep any secret from him anymore so she told him. Told him how she felt about Tyler, about him, about what she has been through during the last three months. They talked for two hours and when Quinn had finally told him everything -such as the little details she hadn't said at the trial-, she erupted into sobs and tears.

"Hey, hey," he whispered against her temple after kissing it as he rocked her back and forth. "You are alright, you're safe now."

"I know," she mumbled in the crook of his neck. "It's just a lot of memories."

"I'm glad you told me. Baby nothing is ever going to happen to you now, I promise you that."

She nodded against his chest and after taking half an hour to calm down, Quinn finally fell asleep in Puck's arms.

* * *

Thank you for your kind reviews! Drama is_ almost_ over, the last few chapters of this story will mostly be fluff.

Don't forget to tell me what you thought about this chapter, and if you enjoyed reading Beth's character as much as I did writing her!

Merci ! :)


	20. Chapter 20

_2 weeks later._

"You are not doing this Quinn!" Puck shouted as he slammed the newspaper down on the kitchen table. He placed both his hands on his hips, glaring at the blond in front of him.

"Yes, I am. I need to do this for closure, Puck. And you are not keeping me from doing it." Quinn argued, her amber eyes hardening. Puck let out a heavy sigh and shook his head as he spoke,

"This is a bad idea, Quinn." Quinn pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, drawing out a long and deep breath.

"No, I need to do this," she repeated, taking a few steps toward him. "That way it will be over, forever," she continued, cupping his face with her hands. "Do you understand?"

"I do understand but I don't want you in the same room as _him_. I don't want him to talk to you or to touch you..."

"He won't," she emphasized, running her thumb on his skin. "There will be a guard with me and plenty of other outside. If anything goes wrong, the guard will restrain him. I need to see him one last time. To make sure that he's still in jail and he isn't going to be released any time soon."

"I know that, I'm just worried about you," Puck said, setting his hands on her hips. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, pecking his lips.

"It's going to be fine," she assured him. "In two days or so I won't be Mrs. Bailey anymore, I will be Ms. Fabray."

He smiled and bit his tongue, stopping himself from saying something too future-ish such as 'Then you'll be Mrs. Puckerman'. "Let me at least go with you there."

"Alright," Quinn said and kissed his lips one more time. "I love you."

"Yeah, I kinda like you too." he teased, then picked her up and pulled her onto the counter top. He kissed her fully on the lips, causing a moan to escape her lips as she wrapped her lags around his waist. His lips left her and grazed her neck as he placed feather-like kisses on skin. She closed her eyes and tightened her hold on him.

Everything was going fine until he pressed his body a little bit harder against hers and memories flooded her mind.

"Puck," she whispered as he sucked on the skin below her ear. "Stop..." too overwhelmed by the shoot of electricity shooting through his body, Puck didn't pay attention to her plea, until she shouted. "Stop!"

She pushed him away from her with her hands on his chest and tried to calm her racing heart and to regain her breath. Puck swallowed and took a step back as she jumped off the counter. "I'm so sorry Quinn, I'm sorry."

"I know," she snapped harshly, then looked into his regretful eyes. "It's fine. I just need you to take it slow, okay?"

Puck nodded his head and ran his hand over his face. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Quinn said with a little smile. "I told you, we just got carried away. I need more time."

"I know," he said, closing the distance betweens them. "But I'm still sorry, I shouldn't have gotten carried away like I did."

"I told you it's fine," she pecked him on the lips before walking to the kitchen door. "I should get ready for later."

-0-

Quinn gripped Puck's hand tighter as they walked through the Lima detention center's halls, three cops walking by them. Quinn was sucking and out calm breathes and Puck squeezed her hand and kissed her temple as they stopped in front of a door.

"You can't come in with her," one of the cops told Puck. "He only asked for Quinn. But you can see through the observation room."

Puck clenched his teeth but knew that she needed to do this on her own. He kissed her forehead and hugged her. "I love you."

Quinn nodded her head, whispered the words back to him and followed the large man in the room, while Puck walked in with another cop in the observation room. Quinn walked into the room and his gaze immediately set on Tyler who was walking in as well. The cop unhand-cuffed him and the dark haired man stepped towards Quinn, extending his arms.

"Sweetheart, I missed you so much."

Quinn pushed against his chest, "There will be no touching, Tyler." she said sternly before taking a seat at the square table in the center of the room. Tyler grumbled something under his breath and sat across from her.

"I'm glad you came, Sweetheart, I knew you couldn't resist it."

Puck clenched his teeth once again on the other side of the mirror, his hand gripping the edge of the table.

"I didn't come for you. I've come for me. I need closure to start my new life."

"Sweetheart, your life is with me. You belong to me."

"No. My new life is with Puck and Beth. Not with you. The divorce will be pronounced tomorrow, I have all the papers."

"You are _mine_ Quinn, remember that."

"I'm not. Tomorrow the papers will be signed and I will not be Quinn Bailey anymore," she spit out. "Puck and I are going to start our new life, with Beth, as a family."

"You bitch," Tyler sneered out, stood harshly, knocking his chair in the process. Puck snapped as Tyler fought against the cop to get to Quinn who had cowered in the corner.

"That's it. I want her out of there. Now!" he shouted leaving the room and entering in the one where Quinn and Tyler were, nearly knocking the door out of its hinges. He pulled Quinn into his arms as Tyler was taken over control. Quinn drew out a breath of relief as Puck led her out of the room. Once outside, they climbed into his truck and drove home. Puck noticed that Quinn was a little pale and he took her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Are you okay baby?" he asked, his thumb running over his knuckles. Quinn turned to him and shook her head.

"Can you stop the car please?"

"What?" Puck asked, confused.

"Stop the car!" Puck stopped the car on the side of the road and Quinn pulled the door opened before kneeling into the grass and emptying the contents of her stomach on the ground. Puck swallowed thickly and got out of the car as well, kneeling by her side.

"It's okay, baby. Breathe." Puck soothed as his hand traced circles on her back.

When Quinn was finished, Puck drove her back to Finn and Rachel's. Puck wanted her to move in with him, but he knew it was still too soon and she wanted to take baby steps in their new relation ship. They stepped through the door and found Beth playing Wii with Finn while Rachel sat on the love seat, taking some pictures with Quinn's camera. Quinn kissed Beth's hair but the little girl didn't pay attention, too engrossed into beating Finn, _again_. However, they were playing Mario at the moment and Finn was an expert.

Puck sat behind Beth and pulled her onto his lap, taking the console from her to get her ahead of Finn before giving it back to her.

"Hi," Quinn said to Rachel as she wrapped her arms around her best friend's shoulders from behind, looking at the pictures she had taken with her camera. Rachel tilted her head up to Quinn and kissed the blonde's cheek.

"How did it go?" she whispered, trying to avoid to catch anyone's attention.

"It was alright. I'm just right it's over," Quinn said as she strolled through the pictures. "This one is cute." she said as she showed Rachel a picture of Finn and Beth, both so concentrated on their game that their tongue stick out of their mouth.

"Yeah, it's my favorite," Rachel stated, covering Quinn's hands with hers as she looked up to the former cheerleader. "I need to go to the mall for some new pregnancy clothes. I don't fit in any of my jeans. Care to join me?"

"Yes, I need to go to the mall too, actually." Quinn said. The two friends were interrupted by a loud 'Hurray!' from Beth, who had beaten Finn.

"I can not believe that you beat Finn to Mario," Rachel said. "Nice job tiger!" she said to her goddaughter, high fiving her.

"Haha!" Beth exclaimed, bouncing up and down as she pointed at Finn. "You owe me an ice cream."

Finn sighed. "I guess so. Only a half though 'cause you had your dad's help."

"Hey!" Beth whined as she jumped on Finn's lap, her lower lip advanced, forming a cute pout. Finn's eyebrows snapped together, her hazel eyes boring into him. Finn was actually scared. "That's not fair."

"Calm down, B. I'm kidding. Not only will you have one entire ice cream, you will get to have two scoops."

"Sweet! Can we go now?" she didn't wait for an answer as she jumped from the couch; "Gonna get my coat."

"We actually need to go to the mall," Rachel said. "So why don't we all got together to the park or whatever and Quinn and I will go shopping while you stay with Beth?"

After dropping Puck, Finn and Beth off to the park, Rachel directed her SUV somewhere else than the mall direction. Quinn frowned and said,

"Rachel, the mall is on the right," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I know that, I just need to get something at my dads'." she said, and Quinn sucked in a breath.

"W-we're going at your dads?" she asked, swallowing. Rachel turned to her quickly and nodded her head.

"They wanted to see how you are doing. But I have something to get anyway."

"Rachel..." Quinn said as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Everything is going to be fine." Rachel assured her. She parked in the driveway and got out of the car, waiting for Quinn to et out as well so they could walk up the path together. She slipped her hand in Quinn's and gave it a squeeze before opening the door "Dad, daddy! We are here."

"Hey baby," Harry greeted, stepping out from the kitchen. The balding man hugged his daughter and turned to Quinn. "Hi Quinn, it's so nice to see you." he said, hugging her as well. "Do you have time for a cup of coffee?"

"Yes, we do!" Rachel exclaimed before Quinn could say anything. "Only it will be orange juice for me."

"Of course, honey," they heard a door open and Rachel's other dad stepped into the room. The tall black man approached them and hugged Rachel. He then took a step toward Quinn, but as hard as he tried, he wasn't able hold back the gasp escaping his mouth. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Hello, Quinn." He said, wrapping his arms around her. Quinn lost herself in the strong man's embrace who had been like a father to her during her senior year. When they pulled away, Bryan smiled and squeezed her hand. "Why don't we go sit down?"

"How is Beth?" Harry asked as he set a cup of coffee in front of Quinn and a glass of orange juice for Rachel.

A wide smile instantly spread onto Quinn's lips at the mention of her daughter. "She's great. She has started elementary school two months ago and she's really doing good."

"Your father learned what happened," Harry blurted out, receiving a glare from his husband. Quinn choked on her coffee and looked up at him.

"What?"

"Well I got a new job a few weeks ago and Russell happens to be my boss... He saw your name on the paper after Tyler's trial and he asked me what had happened, threatening to fire me if I didn't. I'm sorry Quinn..."

"What did he say?" Quinn asked firmly, not letting her voice break.

"He was sad and shocked. It wouldn't surprise me if he tried to contact you."

"I don't care. I don't want to see him," Quinn said stubbornly, gripping the cup of coffee tighter.

"I understand that," Harry said. "I just wanted to let you know that he was aware of the situation."

-0-

On their way to the mall an hour later, Quinn got a call from her lawyer, telling her that she needed to come sign the papers as soon as possible. Rachel turned the car around and took the direction of Quinn's lawyer's office. Soothing her clothes as she stepped out of the car, she climbed the steps of the modern building and knocked onto Mr. Jagsin's office door.

"Mrs. Bailey," the receptionist greeted as she opened the door. "Glad to see you could come quickly. Mr. Jagsin is waiting for you."

Quinn smiled politely at the petite woman and followed her into the bright office. Clearing her throat to get her lawyer's attention, Quinn then sat down on the chair across from him.

"Quinn, hi," he said as he shook her hand. "Let's do this quickly, I have another client in a few minutes." he smiled kindly and placed the three sheets of paper in front of her. "You just have to sign at the bottom of these three pages, just on the space below your name."

"I just have one question," she said.

"Go ahead."

"It's about the house. We're both the owners but I don't want to live in it anymore so I would like to sell it. Can I do that?"

"I'll have to see with the judge, I'll keep you posted."

Quinn nodded, picked up the pen handed to her and took a deep breath before signing the three sheets of paper quickly. "There, it's done."

"Thank you," Mr. Jagsin said as he took the papers back between his fingers and slid them in a yellow envelope. "I'll call you when I know more about the house. Do you have a place to stay until then?"

"Yes, thank you. For everything, Mr. Jagsin."

"You are welcome, Ms. Fabray."

Quinn smiled. It had been a long time since she hadn't heard that name. The lawyer shook her hand and led her out of his office, where she found Rachel standing.

"So..." the brunette began. "How does it feel to be Ms. Fabray again?"

Quinn let out a content sigh. "The papers aren't final yet but it's going to feel great."

Rachel wrapped her arm around Quinn's arm and kissed her cheek. "I'm glad."

-0-

Quinn stepped into Rachel and Finn's house, arms full with packages, refusing that Rachel lift any of them, against the diva's protests. She stumbled through the door with her nine bags and placed them near the door before turning to Rachel.

"I swear, Finn is going to flip when he sees everything you bought," Quinn said with wide eyes.

"Not when is going to see the naughty lingerie I bought." Rachel said with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk.

"Okay...ew."

"Speaking of..." Rachel began. "How is it going with you and Puck?" she said as they walked into the living room.

Quinn cringed at the morning's memory. "I want to do it, I'm just scared."

"Sweetie that's totally normal," Rachel said as she sprawled out on the couch and rested her folded hands on her baby bump. "You have to take it slow."

"I'm dating Puck. Puck usually doesn't do slow," Quinn said, rolling her eyes. "Although I have to admit that he's been very patient."

"He's not the same Puck as the one you broke up with a few years ago. He has changed."

"I know," the former cheerleader said. "But I want baby steps. Not like moving in with him right away."

"Yeah, about that," Rachel said with a cringe. "Finn and I need to move up to New York in a few weeks."

"_Move_?" Quinn asked with wide eyes.

"Yes. It will be a lot easier to be there once the baby is born and not having to take the plane once a month for my shows or for Finn's games."

"Oh."

"But we'll come back in Lima during our time off so we're keeping the house. Maybe you could live here while we're in New York."

Quinn took Rachel's hand into hers. "As much as I appreciate your offer, I don't think I'm going to stay in Lima. I plan on selling Tyler and I's house and leave town."

"B-but...to where?" Rachel stammered in disbelief.

"I don't know yet. But I've nothing left here. Maybe I'll move to California or to New York as well...I don't know, I need to think about it."

"What about Puck and Beth?" Rachel asked. Quinn sighed and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"I honestly don't know what I'm going to do about that. I need to talk to Puck."

They heard the door open and shut and footsteps coming their way. Beth ran into the room and jumped onto her mother's lap.

"Hey momma," she said excitedly. "The park was so much fun, we ate an ice cream, I had two scoops! And we fed the ducks with some bread and I got to play with the monkey bars and the slide and daddy spun me 'round and-You're blonde again!" she said as she noticed Quinn's new hair color during her rant.

Quinn laughed as Beth played with her now blonde curls. "Yeah, I colored it today at the mall. Do you like it?"

"I love it! Daddy is going to flip a shit!"

Rachel's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hand to hold back her laughter. Quinn however, didn't find it funny. "Beth Puckerman, what did you just say?"

"Uncle Finn said it earlier!" she claimed, pointing to Finn who had just entered the room with a beer in his hand, oblivious of the situation. Puck laughed out loud as Quinn shot him daggers with her eyes.

"You are in trouble too, mister," she said, addressing to Puck who lifted his hands in surrender.

"I didn't say anything!"

Quinn rolled her eyes and turned to her daughter with a stern look. "That's a bad word Beth, do you understand? I don't want to hear it again from your mouth, ever. Understood?"

"Yes momma, I'm sorry." Beth said, kissing Quinn's cheek in apology. "Why did you call me Beth _Puckerman_?" she asked then as the two men sat on the couch as well.

"Because that your name honey?"

"No, I mean, why don't you have the same last name as me?"

Quinn met Puck's eyes and turned back to Beth. " 'Cause your daddy and I aren't married, so I keep my father's name, which is Fabray, like yours is Puckerman because your daddy's last name is Puckerman. When you'll get married, you'll get your husband's last name."

"Are you and daddy ever going to get married?" Beth asked, tilting her head to the side.

A silent settled over the room before Puck spoke, "I'd love to."

"Really?" Beth said, her eyes lighting up. "Did you hear that momma? He'd love to."

"I heard, sweetie."

-0-

"Hey," Quinn said to Puck as she stepped into the kitchen. "Can't sleep?" she asked. It was three am and she was craving some ice cream. Puck was sat at the table, his hands folded in front of him.

"My daughter just asked me if we were going to get married," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you, Quinn."

"You didn't scare me, Puck," she said as she stood in front of him. "I-I just...We need to take it slow."

"Come here," he placed her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. "But let's say...in a few years, you wouldn't mind being my wife?"

She placed her hand onto his cheek. "No, I wouldn't mind."

"Good," he said as he ran his fingers through her blond curls. "I'm keeping that in mind. Did you sign the papers?"

"Yeah. I'm selling the house too."

"And where are you going to live?"

Quinn sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't want to stay here Puck, in Lima. I want to start over, in a new town."

"You want to move somewhere else?"

"Yeah. And I was thinking that California was a good place. I could open a gallery there and there's the beach too."

"What about us? And Beth?"

"I don't know. We'll have to think about it," Quinn said. "I just can't stay in Lima, I can't."

* * *

Think we can hit 300 reviews? I can't believe it, you guys are amazing!

Merci! :)


	21. Chapter 21

_A month later_

Puck groaned slightly as the sun made its way through the half closed curtains. He brought his hand in front of his eyes to shield them from the intense light. When he adjusted to the brightness after blinking a few times, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. They traveled to the alarm clock where the digital numbers indicated that it was only 8.00 am. He knew Beth would be up very soon and he should get up to cook breakfast.

A smile immediately set onto his lips as he gazed at the sleeping form next to him. He leaned down and brushed his lips across the base of her neck as his fingers danced on her hip. He peppered little kisses from her collarbone to her cheek before pressing his lips to hers. She shifted and pushed his hands away as she rolled on her stomach. He laughed; he knew that Quinn wasn't a morning person and that nobody should wake her up before at least 8:30.

Since Finn and Rachel were moving to New York in a week, the house was a bit of a mess and Quinn was currently living with Puck. They shared a bed, but nothing more than just light make-out sessions had occurred. Puck was scared to rush her and Quinn was still not very confident in herself.

"Morning," Puck whispered as he ran his hand up Quinn's back. She turned her head, rolling on her side.

"Hi," they shared a kiss before a knock came to the door. "Come in baby."

The door swung open and Beth ran into the room, her blonde curls bouncing up and down her shoulders. The seven-year-old climbed onto the bed and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Easy there Bug. What has got you so excited?" Puck asked as he tackled her down and began tickling her stomach. The little girl's giggles filled the room as she begged for her dad to stop.

"Momma! Help me!" Beth managed to say through her fits of laughter. Quinn stifled a laugh herself and grabbed Puck by the shoulders, pulling him down as Beth sat on his stomach. Puck held both his hands.

"Alright, I surrender," he said, causing Beth to cross her arms over her chest and smile proudly. "What do you wanna do today, B?"

"I want to go to Aunt Rachel and Uncle Finn's house." the blonde girl answered, her hazel eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Only if Aunt Rachel wants to have you. You're quite a handful," Quinn said as she tapped her finger on Beth's nose.

"Momma! I'm not. I'm the sweetest," she said as she moved from Puck and wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck. Quinn grabbed Puck's phone from the nightstand and dialed Rachel and Finn's number, knowing that her best friend would be up by now. She gave it to her Beth and the girl jumped off the bed and walked out of the room.

"Hey Moron," Rachel's voice echoed from the other end. Beth giggled into the phone.

"It's Beth silly! You said a bad word!"

"Oh my God sweetie, I'm so sorry. I thought it was your dad! How are you?"

"Can I come over to your house? I really want to see you and uncle Finn. And dad said you've gotten big since the last time I've seen you," she said, referring to Rachel's pregnancy. She heard Rachel gasp on the phone and curse under her breath.

"You saw me last week! Tell your dad I will kill him next time I see him," she growled. "But you are welcome to come sweetie. What do we say? About 3 o'clock? Do you want to spend the night here? The house is a bit of a mess but I have delicious ice cream in the freezer and we could watch cartoons all evening if you want."

"Cool! Wait, I need to ask momma."

She rushed back into the bedroom (knocking first of course) and handed the phone to Quinn who had just tied her robe around her body. Quinn put the phone to her ear and greeted Rachel.

"Can Beth spend the night at my house? She really wants to and I love having her here. Plus it will give you and Puck a bit of a time to yourselves."

"Let me check with Puck," she said before pulling the phone off her ear and looking at Puck who walked to her. "Rachel wants to keep Beth at her house tonight. Beth is super excited and Rachel's argument is that we will some time for ourselves. All night."

Puck snatched the phone from Quinn's hand and brought it to his ear. "Berry-Hudson, I love you."

"Right moron, who told my goddaughter that I was big!"

"Ooops. I'm passing the phone back to Quinn now."

Quinn laughed as she spoke to Rachel. "All right, three o'clock? Sounds good. See you later," after Rachel had hung up, Quinn swatted her boyfriend's chest with her hand. "You goof."

"Hum..." he leaned down to kiss her. "You love me."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "That I do."

-0-

Quinn was working on a paper in the living room when Puck walked in. He leaned down over the back of the couch and kissed her lips before straightening. "I gotta go to work."

"Alright. Rachel should be here soon to pick up Beth." Quinn replied. Puck smirked and laid another kiss on her lips.

"I'm taking you out to dinner tonight. Wear something nice. Not that you don't always wear something just...A sexy dress or something. Not too sexy because I don't want to punch any guys who stare at you but I mean sexy underneath. You know..."

"I got it," Quinn winked and kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"Love you too. See you tonight."

He walked outside, shutting quietly behind him. As he climbed down the steps, he saw a brunette walking toward him. Rachel pulled her sunglasses from her eyes and raised a brow.

"Hey moron," she greeted.

"Berry," he acknowledged, kissed her cheek and rubbed her stomach playfully, "Little Noah Hudson."

"In. Your. Dreams."

"I am at least going to be the Godfather, right?"

"We'll see," she said. "Where is my favorite girl?"

"Inside. She can't stop bouncing up and down. She's excited to see you."

"That's my girl. See you later." she waved at him as she walked past him and got to the front door, knocking softly before she let herself in. "I'm looking for a certain Ms. Puckerman!" she shouted up the stairs. Quinn laughed as she stood from the couch and heard foot steps running down the stairs.

"Beth, careful," Quinn said when Beth jumped into Rachel's arms. "What did I say about Aunt Rachel?"

Beth instantly got back on the floor. "To be careful because she has a baby inside her stomach."

"That's right," She crouched down to Beth's level and extended her arms. "Give me a kiss,"

Beth kissed Quinn's cheek and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Bye momma, I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

Rachel took Beth's hand into hers and they both waved at Quinn before they stepped out of the house. Once Quinn was left alone, she decided that she should get ready for her interview.

She quickly got dressed into a gray shirt of Puck's and a brown belt around it to make it look more feminine and black jeans before slipping into her brown heels. She braided her hair on the side, put some light make-up and perfume and put her jacket on.

She got downstairs, grabbed her thermos and bag, got her car keys and cell phone. Once she had made sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she got into the car and was ready to turn on the engine when her phone beeped in her bag. Pulling it out, she smiled when she saw it was a message from her boyfriend. She opened it and read,

_Got it! The dark blue dress you had on at Rachel's birthday. My favorite. xx -P_

She laughed out loud as she shook her head and quickly typed back a message, not letting his hopes get to high.

_We'll see. -Q_

She tossed her phone onto the passenger's seat and backed out of the driveway.

-0-

"Come on Boys, give it a little more energy," Puck said, clapping his hands together while watching the football players he coached practice. He blew his whistle after a few minutes and gathered them round him. "Alright, that's enough for today. Good job, hit the showers."

A few minutes later, once he had changed into his clothes for his dinner with Quinn, Puck slug his bag over his shoulder and got out of the locker room. He was walking down the hall when he spotted Will coming out of the choir room after Glee rehearsal.

"Hey man," Puck said as he gave Will a high five. "Congrats for Regionals."

"Thanks," Will answered. "Are you and Quinn free tomorrow night? Emma and I would like to invite you over for dinner. Beth is welcome to come as well. Jumbo misses her." he said, referring to the puppy Golden Retriever he and Emma had just bought.

"I'll ask her but sure, why not," he said as they both walked out of the building and made their way to their cars. He texted Quinn on his way home to tell her he would be there soon. Letting out a deep sigh, he started the car and drove home. When he arrived, he parked in the driveway and got out, soothing his clothes one last time before he stepped into the house. "Quinn?" he called out, shutting the door behind him.

"Almost ready!" she shouted. A few minutes later she bounced down the stairs and kissed his cheek. "There." He looked down to her attire and she was indeed, wearing the midnight blue dress he was talking about, with a grey cardigan and grey flats. Her hair had been straightened, and it reminded him of the year she was pregnant with Beth, when she used to have her hair straight like that. He took her coat and placed it over her shoulders before walking out of the house after her. "So, where are we going?"

"Nuh-huh, not telling."

"Come on," she said as she lightly swatted his arms. "Please?"

He averted his eyes from her sparkling one because he knew he'd cave if he stared for too long. "Not a chance."

"Puck! You know I hate surprises."

He shook his head and smirked at her. "You'll love this one, I promise."

He started the car after they had gotten in and drove for about ten minutes, until they arrived at McKinley High. Quinn frowned as she looked at him.

"What are we doing at McKinley?" she asked as he opened the door for her.

"Will you stop asking questions?" Puck said, kissing her cheek. He walked to the trunk and pulled out a picnic basket. Quinn's brow furrowed even more as she followed him.

"Puck, we are in November. It's freezing outside."

"I know, I'm not crazy," he said as he led her through the building's main entrance. "Just watch and be amazed."

Quinn rolled her eyes because Puck was nothing but romantic but she had to admit that he had done some improving since they had got back together. They passed by their former lockers and she was a bit curious in what hers had become.

"Are we even allowed to be here?" Quinn whispered as they walked through the corridor.

"Yes, we are. I'm a teacher here, remember?"

"You are the football coach," she said, once again rolling her eyes. He turned to her, faking hurt.

"Hey, watch what you're saying." He kissed her quickly before opening the auditorium door. They climbed down the steps to the stage and Puck set the picnic basket down on the piano before pulling out a lighter and lightening the candles that had been placed around the stage. Quinn's jaw dropped and she smiled.

"That we aren't allowed to do."

"I had a little talk with Figgins, he said he didn't mind," Puck said. Quinn narrowed her eyes as she sat down at the piano.

"You didn't throw him in a the dumpster, did you?"

"No," he said quickly, which made Quinn even more suspicious. "Okay, I might have threatened him that I would do it if he didn't give me the auditorium for the night. No big deal."

"Puck! You're such an egghead."

"Oh, am I now?" He said as he sat next to her.

"Yes. And, if I had an egg right now, I'd crack it on your mohawk."

"Please," Puck drew out.

They ate the food Puck had prepared and drank some wine, sharing High School memories. On their way back to the car, they walked through the corridor, Quinn threading her arm through Puck's as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"That was amazing," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I love that romantic side of Puck."

"I'm not romantic. I'm a bad ass."

"That was totally romantic," Quinn murmured. "Take me home?"

Puck nodded and the ride home felt as if it was the longest he had ever done. His hands were sweating and he kept stealing glances to Quinn who didn't seem to be that nervous. After getting out of the car, he let Quinn go upstairs just so he could drink a glass of water, hoping it would be enough to cool him off. When he stepped into the room, the lights were a bit dimmed and Quinn was nowhere to be seen.

She came out of his bathroom a few seconds later, still dressed in the same outfit but bare feet. She didn't speak on her way to him and lifted herself on the tip of her toes, her lips touching his. A jolt of electricity traveled from his spine to his toes when their lips collided. Wrapping his arms around her, he deepened the kiss and one of his hand cupped her cheek.

When things got more heated then, Puck lifted her up and she hooked her legs around his waist as he walked to the bed. He gently laid her upon the comforter, hovering her body, bracing his weight on his hands. His lips left hers and found her neck, lightly sucking on her skin. Quinn closed her eyes and tried to steady her shaking hands by wrapping them around his neck.

He pressed himself against her slightly and Quinn sucked in a breath as he unzipped her dress. "Puck..."

His head shot up in concern. "Do you want to stop?"

"N-no. Just go a little slower, please?"

He nodded his head and smiled, kissing her lips gently. After a few minutes of kisses and gentle caresses, Quinn worked on the buttons of Puck's shirt, one by one. She pushed it off his shoulders, leaving him shirtless. Sliding her hands down his chest, she felt a rush of desire through her body and her fingers worked on unbuckling his belts.

"Well, who's the impatient now?" Puck said with a smirk, a chuckle escaping his parted lips. His hands found the zipper of her dress and he locked eyes with her, stopping his movements. When she nodded her head, he unzipped it and the dress pooled to her ankles. He drank in her body, which was in much better shape than 2 months ago.

When Quinn tried to cover herself with her arms self-consciously, he pushed her them away and kissed her. "You're beautiful."

The remaining clothes were discarded around on the floor a few minutes later, and Puck locked eyes with Quinn as he slid inside her. She gasped at the feeling and when he looked at her, his eyes full of concerns, she kissed his lips.

"I'm okay," she whispered.

The room around her got blurry and the only thing she could hear were their matching moans, the feel of his lips on her skin before they both tumbled over the edge at the same time as Puck whispered words of love against her lips.

He then gathered her into his arms and pulled the covers around their bodies. She nestled against his side and rested her head on his chest, drawing imaginary shapes of hearts on his skin. He dropped a kiss on her blond hair and tightened his grip around her.

"I love you," she said, looking up at him for a brief moment.

"I love you, too."

-0-

"Hello," Rachel said as she poked her head around the opened door. "Anybody home?"

"In the kitchen."

Beth and Rachel walked to the kitchen where Puck was cooking breakfast. "Hey," Rachel padded to her dad and hugged his legs before going in the direction of the stairs, looking for her mother. Rachel followed the little girl with her eyes before turning back to Puck. "Where's Quinn?"

"Asleep."

"Asleep? But it's like...10:30!" Rachel said after checking her watch. "Why is she still asleep?" The smirk on Puck's lips was enough for the brunette to put the pieces together. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"I don't wanna hear any details, but thank you. Is she going to wake up soon or what?"

As if on cue, Quinn walked into the room in jeans and sweatshirt, Beth in her arms. She put her daughter down on the floor and hugged her best friend. "Hey,"

"In a good mood I see," Rachel teased, winking at Quinn who blushed and dipped her head down. She walked to Puck and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Morning,"

"Hi," he said sheepishly as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist.

"Gosh, you two are nauseating." Rachel said, shaking her head, through her smile didn't fade.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Quinn asked as she turned away from Puck.

"To drop your daughter off and to tell you that Finn and I are moving the day after tomorrow. We decided to sell the house."

"Oh. You are leaving so soon?"

"Yeah, we want to be settled before the baby comes. But you are welcome to visit whenever you want."

-0-

"Hey, Quinn?" Puck asked as he walked into his bedroom. Quinn stood in front of the window, her arms crossed over her chest. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking."

"About what?" he asked, setting his hand on her hip.

"About my life, what I went through...About Beth and you and this town."

"What are you getting at, Quinn?" Puck asked, swallowing. Quinn sighed and turned to him.

"I can't stay here anymore. I feel stuck, like a bird in cage. I need to move away." She said. "As soon as possible."

* * *

Review please!

Merci ! :)


	22. Chapter 22

Okay, I just want to clear up a thing, I did call Puck Quinn's husband two times in the last chapter, because I took those two scenes from another story of mine where Quick were married (the story won't be published, I just wrote it one day and it's sitting in my computer) and I thought I had changed all the details. So no, they didn't get married. Sorry for the mistake!

Enjoy!

* * *

_2 weeks later _

Rachel and Finn had moved to New York a few days back, so Quinn stayed at Puck's house until she found a new place. Beth was excited to have her mother live with her. The three of them were supposed to go up to New York for a few days to visit Finn and Rachel and drop by Kurt and Blaine's place as well as Mercedes'.

"Quinn?" Puck called out in the house after he came home from football practice at McKinley. "Babe?"

After checking every room, he found her in his office, in front of her laptop. She looked up from the screen and smiled. "Hi."

"What are you doing?" he asked, standing behind her and dropping a kiss to her shoulder.

"I'm looking for a house," she said.

"Where?"

"In California."

"Babe..." he thought she had forgotten about the idea since they were reunited and didn't want to be torn apart anytime soon.

"We've been over this, Puck." Quinn argued, knowing he was about to tell her it was a bad idea. "I can't move on if I stay in Lima. I need to go far away. California seems like the perfect choice for me. I can start a career in photography and have my own studio," she strolled down the opened window and clicked on one of the house. "Look at this one: Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open plan kitchen and living room. It even has a backyard."

"Where is it?" Puck asked.

"Twenty kilometers from L.A."

"Oh," Puck breathed out. "Well...Looks like you found it." he said with a smile, but Quinn didn't miss the bitterness in his voice nor the falseness of his smile.

"Puck," she called out as he walked out of the room. She sighed and stood up, following him into the hall. "Don't do that..."

He sharply turned around, "Don't do what? We finally reunited and you want to break us apart again. What are we going to do about Beth, huh? Her mom will live 3000 kilometers from her dad, how is she going to take that. I only want your happiness, Quinn, that's all I'm asking for. But I don't want us to be apart."

"Neither do I! Hear me out, alright?" she said, placing her hands over his forearms. "What is keeping you here, in Lima?"

"I have my job at McKinley," Puck answered.

"And don't you think you can find a football coach post in California?" she asked. "Maybe you and Beth could come with me in California, that's what I meant. I need to take a new start but I won't if it isn't with the two of you. I need the both of you to get better."

"Quinn,"

"Beth would love the beach and the sun. And you would easily find a job there. I know that I told you that I wanted to take it slow but I've come to realize that now, the both of you are my family, and I now trust you. Can you think about it, please?"

"Alright." Puck said. He kissed her lips and sighed. "I need to go to McKinley."

"Okay."

"I'll pick you up later so we can go get Beth to school."

-0-

"How was your day sweetie?" Quinn asked Beth when the little girl came out of the building. Beth shrugged and wrapped her arms around Quinn.

"Momma?" she asked after pulling away. "What does 'slut' mean?"

Puck frowned and crouched down to Beth's level. "Where did you hear that, Bug?"

"A boy at school told his mom said that momma is a slut because she was married and she got back with you."

Puck's jaw clenched. "Who is that boy?" he asked?

"Puck," Quinn drew out. "He's just a boy. he just repeated what he heard."

"I know. I want to pay the parents a visit."

"Puck stop it, it's not necessary. And Beth, I don't want to hear that word leave your mouth again, do you understand? That's a bad word."

"Okay," Beth said. "But I didn't like it so I kicked him between the legs anyway."

Puck chuckled and Quinn's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"That's what daddy told me to do if a boy bugged me." she said innocently and Puck laughed.

"That's my girl."

"Puck," Quinn said and lightly slapped his chest, though she was rather amused herself. Puck laughed once again and scooped Beth up to put her on his shoulder, causing a loud squeal to escape from Beth's mouth. Once Beth was settled, he took Quinn's hand in his and laced their fingers together. He kissed her temple and whispered in her ear,

"Okay."

"What?"

"I'll take a look for jobs in California."

-0-

_3 days later_

"Yes, thanks a lot sir," Puck said into the phone before ending the call. He put it back in his pocket and walked back into the living room. Quinn was seated on the couch, looking something up on her bent down and kissed her cheek as he set his hands on her shoulders. "That was the principal of a High school in Westchester. He wants to have a look at my resumé. I'm sending it to him by mail."

"I'm going to look up for houses around there," Quinn said, quickly typing on her keyboard.

"Alright. I need to go to McKinley. Maybe we should talk about moving to Beth tonight."

"Yeah, it'd be wise," Quinn said, craning her head to Puck. "See you later."

Later that night, Puck, Quinn and their daughter were watching a movie on the couch, and when it ended, Puck turned off the TV as Quinn pulled Beth on her lap.

"Beth, we need to talk to you about something," Puck said as he turned to his girls.

"About what?" she asked, leaning against Quinn's chest. Quinn stroked her daughter's blond hair as Puck spoke,

"Your mom and I talked a lot these days. You know Tyler went to jail, right? Well he isn't going to hurt your mom anymore but if we want her, because I know you do, to get fully better, we have to get a whole new start. And to do that, your mom needs to move from Lima, a town which holds very bad memories for her. Do you understand that, Bug?"

Beth nodded her head. "Where is she going?"

"To another state, probably. But she isn't going alone now, is she? Would you want her to do that on her own?"

"No," Beth said as she shook her head back and forth. She looked up towards Quinn. "I don't want you to be all alone. Does that mean we're going with you?"

"Beth," Puck continued. "If you want to, yes, that means we're going with her. But you have to know that a different town means a whole new group of friends. You won't be able to see Laura anymore, or to hang out with Grandma. Of course we'll come here to Lima once in a while but not so often."

"We're gonna go near uncle Finn and aunt Rachel's new house?" Beth asked curiously.

"We don't know where we are going yet," Puck said.

"So you are okay about leaving Lima, honey?" Quinn asked, resting her chin atop her daughter's head.

Beth nodded her head and sighed. "Yep, if it makes you all better momma."

-0-

_One week later_

"Quinn, seriously?" Puck said as he picked up her two suitcases. "We're going in New York for just a week, do you really need all that stuff?"

She glared at him and yanked the suitcases from his hands. "Yes, I do."

"Geez, okay, woman," he said teasingly when he saw the corners of her lips go upwards. "Come here," he whispered, hooking his arm around her waist and pulling her body against his. He leaned down and captured her lips into his in a simple, chaste kiss. When she deepened the kiss, their daughter interrupted them.

"Ew. Gross."

Puck laughed after pulling away. "C'mon, we're going to miss our plane if we don't get going."

They were going to New York to spend the holiday with Finn, Rachel, Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine who lived in the Big Apple as well. Quinn was a bit anxious about seeing them there, because she hadn't seen them or heard of them since they graduated from High School.

After a three hours flight, the trio finally landed in New York, surprised to see Rachel and Finn already waiting for them at the gate. After all, it was Rachel, everything was planned to the minute.

"Okay, now you're huge," Puck couldn't help saying as he looked down to Rachel expended belly. Quinn slapped his chest as the diva's mouth fell open.

"Don't make me regret inviting you over, Puckerman." she threatened with a menacing finger pointed at him before hugging her best friend as Finn gave Puck a man hug.

"I can't wait to see the apartment. I mean, I've seen the photos and everything but I want to see it in real," Quinn said with a smile.

"You are staying for Christmas, right?" Finn asked as he scooped Beth up into his arms. "Because Santa has a lot of presents for Beth."

"How do you know?" Beth asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Finn gulped and swallowed. "B-because he called me earlier and said that you've been very wise this year."

"See daddy! I told you. So this means I'll get the puppy I asked for!"

Puck groaned and Quinn laughed. "Thanks a lot man," he mumbled to Finn. "Thanks a lot."

-0-

"Hey Finn," Puck called as he walked into Rachel and Finn's wide kitchen, catching the taller man's attention. "Have you go it?"

"Yep, I've got it printed right here," he said as he handed his best friend two printed sheets of paper.

"How far is it from here again?"

"Like 60 miles. You should be there in less than an hour," Finn said. "Did you call the principal?"

"Yeah, he wants to meet me. I should go there tomorrow afternoon, see the realtor and everything."

"Do you think she'll like it?"

Puck looks down at the pictures on the sheets of paper and nods his head. "Yeah, I think so. It would be a nice Christmas present, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah,"

"What are you guys talking about?" Rachel asked as she waddled in the kitchen.

"Um...About Quinn's Christmas present."

"Oh. And what is it?" she asked as she tilted her head to the side, a sheepish smile on her lips.

"Promise me you won't tell her anything." Puck said, extending his hand. Rachel rolled her eyes and shook his hand.

"Deal."

"A house."

"What?"

"Quinn's Christmas present is a house."

"Holy shit!" Rachel shouted before she could stop herself, Puck raising an eyebrow at the brunette's vocabulary. He hoped that Quinn, who was bathing Beth, didn't hear it. "Sorry. Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I'm going to see it tomorrow. It's in Newburgh. The High School principal is looking for a football coach, looks like I'm lucky."

"This is insane. Quinn is going to flip. She'll be happy though. Do you have any pictures?" Rachel asked, taking the sheets of paper from Puck's hand. "Oh. My. God. It's so beautiful, she's going to love it. I didn't know you had good tastes, Puckerman."

"Gee, thanks Berry."

"Always a pleasure."

-0-

"Where are we going?" Quinn asked excitedly as she climbed into Finn's SUV with Puck.

"You're acting like a five-year-old who is going to the toy store, babe."

"Shut up. Seriously, where are we going?"

"Not telling," Puck aid with a smirk as he started the engine. He was answered by a slap on the chest.

"Puck!"

"Ow, that hurt babe," he mocked hurt and pulled the car out from the parking lot. "We're going out of town."

"Where?"

"60 miles from here."

"And what are we going to do there?" Quinn asked with an arched brow. Puck sighed and shook his head playfully.

"Would you stop?" he grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Just be patient. I won't tell you anything."

Quinn huffed and looked out the window, before turning back to her boyfriend. "Not even the teeny tiniest little hint?"

"Quinn!"

-0-

After a one-hour drive, Puck finally pulled up in front of a brick house. It was surrounded by brown fences and there was a large porch with a bench-swing. Quinn looked out the window curiously before stepping out of the car.

"Where are we?" she asked, turning to Puck. "Do you have family here?"

"Nope," Puck said, dipping his hands into his pockets as he walked to her. "I was looking for houses on the internet and I came across this one. It's close to New York, so close to Rachel and Finn, and Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes... Shall we go in?"

"Puck," Quinn said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "We can't go in."

"I've got the key. I met the realtor yesterday, he said I could visit it with you today." Puck told her as he fished in his pocket and pulled out a walked up the path and he unlocked the door. The interior was very modern but with a few antics every now and then. The door opened on an open floor plan kitchen and living room, very lightened. On the right after the living room was the dining room, which walls were painted in ivory. There was a small bathroom in the corner next to the wooden helicoidale stairs.

"It's beautiful," Quinn commented as she looked around the house in awe.

"You haven't seen everything," Puck said, before leading her to the first floor. "Here is the master bedroom with a bathroom."

Quinn nodded and followed him to the next room. It was also a bedroom, smaller and colorful. He then led her back downstairs and opened the back door, revealing a patio and a rather vast garden.

"Wow," Quinn said as she stepped on the patio. "This is amazing. But Puck, we can't afford it."

"You're selling your house. I'm selling mine too since we're going to live together. And I have money saved. We can afford it, Quinn."

Quinn took her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked back from Puck to the large backyard. Puck walked closer and set his hand on her lower back.

"Should I put an offer?" he asked, placing his chin on her shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. Quinn looked at him and nodded her head.

"Yeah."

-0-

"It's Christmas, it's Christmas, it's Christmas!" Beth squealed as she ran bare feet in the room her parents were staying in. She climbed on the bed and bounced up and down on the mattress until Puck woke whined and shuffled closer to Quinn, who was starting to stir.

"I know, bug. But can't you let us sleep a little more?"

"Please, daddy!" Beth exclaimed as she crawled in between her parents and pouted. Quinn turned around and chuckled.

"Alright. Go wake up your aunt and uncle." she said, tapping her daughter's nose. Beth nodded her head and jumped off the bed, running to Rachel and Finn's room. Puck sighed with a smile and pulled his girlfriend closer to him, kissing her cheek.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered in her ear.

"Merry Christmas," Quinn replied. "Or Happy Hanukkah, even if it already occurred."

"Mom! Dad! Come open the presents!"

Puck sighed once again before standing from the bed and padding in the hallway toward the living room where a big green tree was lit with Christmas lights. There was a pile of presents underneath it and Beth was sitting on the floor, counting how many wrapped presents had her name on it.

Quinn came out a few minutes later, he robe tied around her body and she stood next to her best friend, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Can I open them, now?" Beth asked excitedly.

"Yes, you can sweetie."

"Sweet!" Beth exclaimed, before processing to the unwrapping of her presents. She took the red envelope which rested against all the other presents and ripped it open. "What's this?"

Puck took it from her. "Let's see," he shared a glance with Quinn and spoke, "It's a purchase voucher in a pet store."

"What does that mean?" Beth asked with wide eyes.

"It's for when you go get your puppy." Beth eyes grew even wider, causing every adult in the room to laugh.

"When can we go there, when can we go there?" she exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"You won't get your puppy until we are settled in a new house. We can't have a puppy running around during the moving. Okay?" Beth nodded and then got back to opening the rest of her presents. Puck turned to Quinn and retrieved a box from behind the counter. "Speaking of, here's your present."

Quinn frowned and opened the square box. She lifted the lid and stared at a key. She looked up to Puck, confused at first, then she put the pieces together. "Have we..."

"The owner has accepted our offer. The house is ours if we want it." Puck said, a wide grin spreading on his lips. Quinn gasped before throwing herself into his arms. She dipped her head down and kissed his lips, a little too passionate when they are kids in the room. Rachel cleared her throat and they pulled apart.

Puck rested her forehead against her and said, "To a new beginning."

* * *

A/N : Next chapter will be the epilogue.


	23. Chapter 23

_Six months later_

"Quinn!" Puck shouted from the bedroom as he got dressed for his day at work. "Have you seen my grey shirt? You know, the one you like," he asked. Being met with silent, he frowned and got down the stairs after throwing a sweatshirt over his head. Beth was watching TV in the living room, her Golden Retriever puppy sitting on her lap. He kissed the top of her head and patted the dog's head. "Where's your mom?"

"On the patio," the eight-year-old girl answered, looking up at him. "She has been there for a while now."

Puck opened the back door and stepped onto the patio. "Hey," he called out. Quinn turned around and smiled. But her eyes were blood shot and her cheek tear stained. "What's wrong?"

"It's been a year," Quinn said, shrugging her shoulder.

"What?"

"A year ago, I was miserable. My husband was hitting me and I was a mess, my life was screwed up." she said, wrapping her arms around herself. Puck breathed out a sigh and rubbed her shoulder with his hand. "It's upside down now. I have everything I've ever wanted and I'm happy. I am truly happy."

"You can't even imagine how eager I've been to hear you say that." Quinn turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. He kissed her hair and inhaled her scent, closing his eyes as a low breeze flowed around them. The back door opened a minute later and Beth came out running, her beige puppy trailing behind her. She climbed down the steps as fast as she could and laid down on the grass, covering her face with her arms as the dog attacked her cheeks with licks.

"Dad! Help me!" she shouted, and Puck laughed before letting go of Quinn and helping his daughter up. "Thank you."

"Come on, go get ready for school, I'll drive you there."

Beth nodded and walked back into the house after hugging Quinn. "Do you need a ride?" Puck asked his girlfriend as he marched back to her.

"No, I'm going to New York this afternoon, stop by to see Rachel and Matthew before going to the gallery."

Quinn had opened a gallery two months ago, where she had her photos exposed, and people bought them. She had recently began to work for several magazines, taking care of the models' photo shoots in her studio.

"Alright," Puck said, before placing a kiss to her lips. "I need to get going otherwise I'm gonna get my ass kicked by the principal."

"Your grey shirt is hanging in the laundery."

"Thanks," he kissed her cheek one last time and pushed a stay of hair behind her ear. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

-0-

"Come on boys, one more time," Puck said, clapping his hands together. The teenagers groaned and each took a basketball into their hands, ready to shoot. They were interrupted by the Gymnase door opening and hutting. Quinn stepped in, her purse over her shoulder and her high heels clicking against the hardwood floor, holding Beth's hand. The players' head shoot up and one of them whistled.

"Damn, hot girl," he commented with an arched brow. Puck rolled his eyes, figuring he might have said that once or twice at their age. Still, his possessive side had to show.

"Wilson, watch out, she's my girl, so back off," he said, then blew his whistle. "It's enough for today, hit the showers!"

He smiled as he saw Beth and Quinn approach him. "Hey," he kissed Quinn on the cheek and scooped Beth up. "How was school?"

Beth shrugged and rested her head on his shoulder. "It was okay. Can we watch a movie tonight?"

"Nope, tonight is school night, this weekend we can," Puck said and Quinn nodded in agreement. Beth pouted and gave Puck the best puppy eyes she could produce. Puck had to look away so he wouldn't cave. "Come on, let's go home."

Newburgh was almost the same size at Lima, so it wasn't a big difference for Beth to move from Lima to Newburgh. Puck drove his girls home later and they ate dinner, Beth actively chatting about her day at school while Quinn and Puck listened attentively. They put her to bed then, after reading her two stories and singing her a song.

Quinn was doing the dishes in the kitchen when Puck walked in. He hooked his arm around her slim waist and kissed the base of her neck. "Come to bed?" he asked, resting his chin upon her shoulder. Quinn remained silent until he started to place little kisses on her neck and jaw, and a moan escaped her lips. She turned around, looped her arms around his neck and crashed her lips onto his.

"We should move this to the bedroom," she mumbled against his lips and he nodded in agreement. The blonde squealed when he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, carrying her to their bedroom.

-0-

"Daddy?" Puck heard the quiet voice near him. He groaned and opened his eyes, trying to adjust them to the darkness. Beth was standing at the foot of the bed and he could hear sniffles. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes.

"Beth?" He asked, after turning on the bedside table lamp. He glanced at Quinn who was still sleeping and then back to his daughter. "What's wrong?"

"The storm is scary," she said, before placing her thumb in her mouth as she wiped her cheeks with her free hand. Puck listened as the rain crashed against the window and he pulled back the cover.

"Hop on." he said with a smile and Beth climbed onto the bed. Quinn stirred and turned on her back.

"Well, well," She said as she racked her fingers through Beth's blonde hair. "Scared of the storm, huh?"

"Not anymore, I have daddy's strong arms to protect me." Beth said sheepishly snuggling closer to her dad. Quinn laughed and kissed the tip of her nose.

"I could use some of daddy's strong arms too." the blonde said, snuggling even closer so Puck could set his hand on her hip with Beth between the two of them.

"Good night mama," Beth whispered, closing her eyes and resting her head against Quinn's chest. Puck kissed Quinn's lips and whispered words of love before falling asleep as well.

-0-

Quinn walked into the office Puck had set up for her in the third room of their house. She turned on her laptop and sat down in front of it, waiting for it to load. Once she did, she hit a couple of buttons and the software opened.A few minutes later, Dr. Philips' face appeared on her since she and Puck moved to New York, she and Dr. Philips had weekly sessions via the computer. However, they had decided not to do a session for a month and to do a checkup afterward.

"Hello, Quinn, it's good to see you," she said, and Quinn said hi as well. "You look good. How have you been?"

"I'm okay, I'm great actually."

"Do you have any nightmares? Flashbacks of memories?"

"No, I haven't had any in a while, actually. I've had some but they are less accurate and less intense."

"That's amazing. And how are things with Puck? Do you still fear his movements?" Dr. Philips asked. Quinn shook her head and smiled.

"No, I don't, not anymore. He's very gentle with me and careful and I feel safe," the blonde woman said. "I'm happy. I'm truly happy. And Beth is so thrilled about the fact that we're together. And I still see Rachel and Finn and other friends from Glee club."

"Well, Quinn, it seems that you have made a real progress. I'm proud of you," Quinn watched as she looked down to her papers and then back up to her.

"Thank you."

"So it seems like you don't need my services for a while now. I still want you to call me in three months, and then we'll see ahead," Dr. Philips said. Quinn nodded her head and sighed.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Philips, for everything you've done for me."

The call ended a minute later and Quinn reclined back in her chair, closing her eyes for a second.

"Babe?" she heard Puck call before the door open. "Your session is already over?"

"Yeah. We decided that I didn't need any for a while now. I told her that I wasn't scared anymore and that I'm happy."

Puck looked perplexed. "Is that the truth?"

Quinn stood and walked to him, looping her arms around his waist. "Yes. I'm happier that I've ever been. With you and Beth, I couldn't ask for more."

He leaned down and gave her a long kiss. "Good. Wanna go to the beach? I wanna see you shake your ass in that extremely sexy blue bikini you bought which I haven't had the chance to see on your hot body yet."

Quinn slapped his arm as her mouth fell open. "You're such an assdick."

"_Excuse me?_" he asked, mocking hurt. Quinn rolled her eyes and walked past him. "Did you just call me an _assdick_? What does that even mean?"

"Why don't you find out by yourself!" she shouted from down the hall, then laughed when he huffed rather loudly in exasperation. "Drama Queen!"

-0-

A week later, Quinn was coming home from work one night. She set her car keys on the table next to the door and draped her jacket onto the back of a chair before checking the living room, not seeing anybody. She climbed up the steps and could hear Beth's voice drifting into the hall.

"Daddy, I can't do it." Quinn heard and frowned as she walked further down the hall in direction of her daughter's room.

"Yes you can, you just have to rack your fingers against the chords, I'll do the other hand, alright?"

"Okay," she said. Quinn stopped at the doorway and watched as Beth's tongue stuck out from her mouth as she racked her fingers against the guitar chords. She was sat on her dad's lap with the large guitar against her chest. The blonde curls she had inherited from her mother were falling around her face.

"I did it. This is so cool. When Is our next lesson?" she asked, her head shooting up to her dad. She noticed Quinn standing against the door frame and her face lit up. "Momma!"

"Hey," Quinn greeted, walking to the two Puckerman. She kissed Beth's forehead and smiled. "That was really good. Why are you still doing up, missy?"

Beth shrugged. "I'm going now."

"Did you brush you teeth?"

"Huh, huh," Beth nodded her head as she slipped under the covers. "I've got a question," she said seriously and Quinn shared a look with Puck before turning back to their daughter. "You said that you wanted to marry momma someday but she hasn't the pretty ring that aunt Rachel and aunt Tina have on their finger." she said, her finger tracing Quinn's ring finger. "Why?"

"Because your mom and I decided to take it slow." Puck said. Beth seemed satisfied with the answer and didn't push it.

"Goodnight bug," Quinn whispered and kissed Beth's nose. She then walked out of the room, leaving Puck and Beth for their private goodnight. A few minutes later, Puck came back down the stairs and spotted Quinn working on her laptop.

"How was you day?" he asked as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"It was good, I took some good photos, I'm looking at them now."

Next things she knew, Puck was kneeling down on the floor and taking her hands into his. She knew what he was doing and her mouth fell open as she spoke,

"Puck,"

"I love you Quinn, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, to protect you, to take care of you and Beth, to see you smile, to make you happy. Now I know it isn't very romantic and the ring isn't hidden in a piece of cake in a fancy restaurant and shit but..." he reached in his pocket and pulled out a navy blue velvet box. "I've had this sitting in my socket drawer for months now, just waiting for the right moment. Now I know it isn't the perfect moment but it just felt right, after everything Beth said, I mean, you deserve to finally have the pretty ring on your finger," he opened the box to reveal a round cut sapphire ring with little diamonds surrounding it. Quinn gasped and swallowed. "This was my grandmother, my mom gave it to me a while back. She told me to give this to the right girl once I had found her. I did, Quinn, I found you 20 years ago, on the playground, I was just not realizing it back then. I know it sounds cheesy and shit but I love you, I just love you. So I'm a little nervous but..." he took a deep breath and asked,

"Quinn Fabray, I love you and I was hoping that you would give me the joy and honor of being your husband. So, will you marry me?"

Quinn choked back a sob and nodded her head several times. "Of course I will. Yes." He took the ring out of its box and slipped it on her finger. She then cupped his cheek with her hand and crashed her lips onto his. They stood and she wrapped her legs around his waist, him wrapping his arms around hers so she wouldn't fall. They broke apart mere seconds later and Quinn rested her forehead against his.

"I love you." she whispered.

"You better,_ fiancée_."

-0-

"Quinn!" Rachel shouted across the bar, waving her over. Quinn walked to her and Santana, Brittany, Mercedes who were there too. She kissed each girl's cheek and then hopped onto a stool next to her best friend, before turning to the bartender.

"I'll have a bottle of champagne, please."

"Champagne, Q?" Santana asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "What for?"

Quinn shrugged and rested her chin on her propped left hand. She waited for a few seconds until she heard gasps.

"He finally proposed!" Rachel exclaimed, taking Quinn's hand and staring at the sapphire. The blonde's eyes widened.

"He told you?"

"No, well he told Finn. We all know that Finn can't keep anything from me. So eventually I found out. How did he do it? Restaurant? Home? Romantic or out of the blue?" Rachel asked, beaming.

Quinn laughed as she was hugged and congratulated by the other girls at the same time she spoke, "Completely out of the blue. Well Beth talked about it and next thing I knew, he was kneeling on the living room floor."

"Aw," Brittany cooed. "Did you tell Beth?"

"I was going to but the ring was the first thing she paid attention to the next morning so...She beat me to it. But she's thrilled. Now she's asking for a baby sister or a baby brother. I told her she was going to have to wait a little longer for that one."

"I'm so, so happy for you, Quinn." Rachel said before pulling her into a warm hug.

An our passed and after several glasses of champagne (none for Rachel because she was breast feeding), Quinn dragged Rachel into the bathroom. Rachel was confused as Quinn checked that every stall was empty. She then took both her hands in hers and said,

"I want you to be my maid of honour. If you will."

Rachel gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as she teared up. It wasn't really a surprise but it still shook her. "Of course I will; You're going to have a kick-ass speech. I'm starting to write it tomorrow!"

"Woah, calm down tiger. Puck and I have decided that the wedding should be in May so we still have eight months to plan it."

"Still, you deserve the best speech like ever!"

Quinn pulled Rachel in a hug and kissed her cheek. "Thanks you, for doing this. I hope this one will go better than the last time you were my maid of honour."

"Well this time I approve of the husband." she told her with a wink. Quinn's mouth fell open.

"So _not _funny."

Two hours later, Quinn and Rachel decided that it was time to go back to she and Finn's apartment. Rachel struggled with opening the door while steadying a very drunk Quinn with her other arm.

"Shh," Quinn said, placing a finger on her lips as Rachel finally managed to open the door. "We can't make too much noise, Beth is probably asleep."

"So you, have to be quiet."

"Finny!" Quinn said with enthusiasm when they walked into the living room where Puck and Finn watched a game on TV. Rachel clasped a hand over Quinn's mouth to shut her up. "Silence! Right."

"She drank a little too many drinks."

Puck laughed and walked to Quinn, wrapping an arm around her waist. She smiled up at him and fluttered her eyelashes. "Hi, fiancé." she whispered huskily before kissing him. Puck broke apart and kissed her cheek.

"I think you need to get some sleep. Come on."

He scooped her up wedding style and Quinn squealed before wrapping her arms around his neck. "Is it our wedding night yet?"

"Nope, but this is a sneak peek."

"Hmmm, I love it."

He placed her down on the bed in the guest room and pulled her heels off. She ran her hand over his mohawk and said,

"This is so sexy. So badass."

"How many drinks have you had?" he asked as he unzipped the side of her dress. Quinn shrugged and closed her eyes.

"Dunno. Seven, maybe eight; Or ten, I lost count. S was even drunker than me," she said, running her fingers through her blonde hair. "Do you love me?"

Puck stopped short and grinned. "Of course I do, you know that."

"Good. 'Cause I love you too, very, very, very much."

-0-

_Three months later_

"Mom! Dad!" Beth shouted as she walked into the room. She jumped on the bed and sat on Puck's stomach until he woke up. Puck opened his eyes and stared at the girl.

"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing his eyes from sleep.

"It's snowing! Let's go outside!" she said, rolling from his stomach and starting to shake Quinn. "Momma! Wake up, it's snowing."

"Really?" Quinn asked sleepily, then opened her eyes. "Then go get ready so we can go play outside. We'll be there in a minute."

"Okay!" Beth jumped from the bed and ran back down the hall. Puck sighed and snuggled closer to Quinn. He kissed her bare shoulder and nuzzled her neck.

"Morning," he whispered, draping his arm around her waist.

"Hi," she turned around in his arms and kissed his lips chastely. She went to deepen the kiss but pulled apart and stood from the bed and put on just one of his sweatshirt.

"You're such a tease, Quinn Fabray."

She turned her head and winked at him before purposely swaying her hips as she walked to the bathroom. Puck huffed and got out of bed, running after her. He lifted her up by the waist and closed the bathroom door behind them, Quinn's giggles filling the small room.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

"We need to save the hot water," he said, kissing her before yanking the sweatshirt off her.

An hour later, the three of them were outside in the street, which was car-free due to the high amount of snow covering the road. It was snow day, because neither Puck nor Quinn could go to work and Beth wanted to stay at home. All wrapped up in heavy coat and boots, they were each taking turns with Beth on the slide.

Puck reached for some snow while Quinn and Beth were on the slide and he made a ball as they walked back up to him. Quinn narrowed her eyes and held up her finger.

"Puck," she warned, taking a few steps back. "No!" she started to run away but was hit on the back with a snow ball. "Oh, it's on." She made a snow ball and whispered Beth to do the same and when the little girl hit him on the stomach he laughed until Quinn came up behind him and hit his mohawk with her snowball. He gasped and shuddered at the cold.

"You're evil," he sneered out and tackled her in the snow before she could run away. They both landed in the white blanket of snow and Puck put some beneath Quinn's jacket, hitting her warm skin.

"Ah!" she shouted when the cold made contact with her skin. "I hate you, Noah Puckerman."

"Nah, you are crazy about me," he said with a smirk and kissed her lips. Their kiss deepened until they heard Beth huff.

"Ew," the blonde child said. "You two are gross."

Puck laughed and rolled off Quinn before standing up and chasing his daughter and tackling her to the ground as well. Quinn sat back and watched the father/daughter interaction with a big grin.

She loved snow days.

-0-

"How about this one?" Quinn asked as she walked out of the dressing room, wearing an ivory wedding dress, a little bit fluffy. Santana and Rachel were sitting in front of her as they sipped champagne. They were at a special designer store in New York where Rachel had chosen her wedding dress a few years back.

"Let me gently break it to you Q," Santana began. "You look like a meringue, seriously." Rachel nodded several times, agreeing to Santana's opinion. Quinn huffed and looked at herself in the mirror; they were kind of right. She did look like a meringue.

"Ugh, this is like the sixth I'm trying on, I'm never going to find _the_ dress."

After a few more tries, she finally found a dress that she loved, one she knew Puck would love as well. Now she just needed her friends' approval. She stepped out of the dressing room and in front of the two brunettes. The Latina almost choked on her drink as she looked up to Quinn. Her dress was strapless, rather tight on the upper body and widened at the end.

"Now that's what I'm talking abou," Santana sxaid, then stood to look at Quinn properly. "Puckerman won't be able to keep it in his pants when he sees you walk down the aisle. Especially with the non-sex rule a week before the wedding. I don't even know how he accepted to do that."

"Because he loves me," Quinn said. Santana arched an eyebrow. "Okay, and because I told him that the sex on our wedding night will be amazing."

"Thought so. That's the one, by the way." she said, pointing the dress with her finger.

Rachel nodded her head. "You look beautiful sweetie."

"You think Puck will like it?"

"Are you kidding? Like I told you, I'm going to have to pick his jaw up from the floor."

-0-

A few months later, their rehearsal dinner was taking place at a hotel in New York. Puck and Quinn hadn't seen each other in a few days, Rachel, as Quinn's maid of honor, wanting to stick to the tradition. It drove Puck crazy, especially when Quinn showed up wearing his favorite dress of hers -black, high cut to the knee and strapless- and high heels.

Finn had to keep him from walking to her and pinning her against the counter, taking her right there and then. Quinn waved at him and he couldn't help but place his hand on her thigh when they got to sit next to one another during the dinner.

A few minutes before the dessert, Quinn excused herself from the table and Puck waited a minute or two until everyone had gotten back to their conversation to slip out as well. It was only a minute later that Rachel noticed their departure.

"Finn," she said, slapping her husband's arm. "You were supposed to watch Puck! Now he's gone and Quinn too! God, don't tell me they're having sex in the bathroom."

Finn rolled his eyes. "No they're not. And let them be. They are getting married tomorrow."

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms, closely watching Quinn and Puck as they talked twenty meters from the table.

"You look beautiful," Puck said as he tucked a loose stray of her hair behind her ear. Quinn blushed and cupped his cheek, pulling him into a deep kiss. Puck pulled away a few seconds later, before he got too...worked up.

"Rachel is going to flip if we keep going," he said. Quinn laughed slightly and leaned into him. "I can't believe that tomorrow you will be my wife."

He kissed the top of her head and took her hand afterwards, leading her back to the table.

"I better no have you climb up to her window Romeo style tonight," Rachel warned with her finger pointing at Puck.

"You might wanna guard that window, Berry."

-0-

"Mrs. Puckerman, would you offer me this dance?" Puck asked as he extended his hand toward his wife.

Quinn blushed and slipped her smaller hand into his, pulling herself up. He led her to the dance floor as a slow music began to play and Rachel began to sing '_Can You Feel the Love Tonight_'. Puck drew Quinn closer to him and wrapped his arms around her waist as she draped hers over his neck. Their eyes locked, their forehead pressed together as they began to sway to the music filling the room.

"Thank you," she whispered, closing her eyes for a second. A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and he caught it with his thumb.

"What's wrong?"

"These are happy tears. I wanted to thank you for not giving up on me when I was at my worse. For getting me through this and not walking away when I told you I didn't want anyone to help me. I love you so much Puck, you and Beth are everything to me."

Puck smiled and kissed her chastely, "I couldn't have walked away from you, Quinn. I love you, too. And I'm going to prove it to you every day of our married life."

Quinn stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his, bringing him even closer. The song ended and everyone clapped their hands but the married couple didn't pull apart until they needed air. Beth, the flower girl, walked to them and told them that she wanted to dance with them. Puck scooped her up and the three of them danced across the dance floor, Beth's giggles echoing through the room.

Quinn's smile couldn't get any bigger. She felt truly happy, and she hoped her new life would go without any trouble.

**fin.**

* * *

A/N : After a lot of thinking, I decided to write an happy ending. Okay, so I'm kinda sad now. Amazing journey, I want to give you all a big, big thank you for all your wonderful reviews throughout the entire story. I can't believe how much feedback I've got, it's really amazing.

Don't worry though, I have a new story planned, I'm starting to write the first chapter soon. However, school is still there and I really need to focus on my finals if I want to pass. So the story won't get published until July, when I'll have time to update as frequently as I did with this one. Until then, I can promise you some one-shots, Quick ones of course.

Again, thank you all so much, Quick fans! :)


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